Permanent
by live.love.twilight.128
Summary: Carly Pruitt is full of guilt and grief after the death of her parents. This story follows Carly to her new home with her aunt as she tries to start a new life. She also meets three friends, Morgan, David, and Adam, who help her through her hard times. Rated T just in case
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys, new story! I have like, a million new ideas for some pretty cool stories, but I decided to do this one me what you think!**

_"Is this the moment when I look you in the eye?" ~ David Cook_

**Carly's POV**

I woke up to bright lights shining in my face. I sat up quick, and instantly regretted it; head rush. I put my hand on my forehead and slammed my head back into the pillows, trying to make the room stop spinning. My whole body ached. I looked around, but no one was in the room with me. I could hear conversations streaming in from the hallway though. Beeping monitors were to my left and right, and an IV was in my wrist.

"W-what happened?" I murmured to myself, but barely anything came out. My throat was dry and it hurt to talk. I slowly sat up and shifted my position until my legs were dangling over the edge of the bed and my bare feet touched the cold tile floor.

I grabbed the IV pole and made my way into the bathroom, sticking my face under the sink to get a drink. I gasped when I looked into the mirror; bruises and cuts were all over my pale face. My dark hair was a curly mess. I couldn't even recognize myself! I looked down and saw that cuts and bruises were _everywhere, _and that's when I remembered; glass shattering, metal crunching, I remembered everything. I gripped onto the sides of the sink, but my knees buckled and I fell.

******

"_Finally _you're awake!" Aunt Heather said as I rubbed my tired eyes. "Um, honey? We need to talk about some things..."

"Okay...." I knew this was going to happen, I've been dreading it for the past 3 days.

"With your parents.......gone," She started cautiously, trying not to upset me. "You're going to come live withe me, in Indiana."

I just stared at her; I already figured as much. Just....moving from warm, sunny Florida to _Indiana?!_ "O-okay, Aunt Heather."

She gave me a sad smile and sat at the edge of my hospital bed. "Hey!" She said, rummaging in her bag for something. "They found this in your car, they thought you might want it," She said, pulling out a light blue sweater. My breathing caught in my throat and tears formed in my eyes. Not THAT thing. I took the sweater from her with shaking hands and set it aside.

"Thanks," I choked out.

"Your welcome sweetie. And uh, the doctor said you're doing really good, so you can come home tomorrow."

*******

_2 days later_

"Honey, you can't wear all this in Indiana, you'll freeze!" Aunt Heather said as we were packing up my clothes. We were packing up my things from my house, it would be the last time I ever saw this place since.....you know. She picked up a tank top and a pair of short shorts, which is basically all my wardrobe is, and put them in my duffel bag. What do you expect, I live in Florida. It doesn't even get that cold in the winter!

"I guess we'll just have to go shopping then, get you some new clothes," she said. I nodded.

*******

_2 Weeks later, Indiana_

"Our mall has a really big Hollister store, do you want to go in there? I saw that that's where most of your clothes came from," My aunt said. Yes, I'm a prep. Well, I was a prep. But not anymore, not after what happened.

I shook my head. "No, I don't really like that store anymore."

"Oh. Well.....we can go wherever you want."

I nodded and tried to smile, but I just couldn't. I know my aunt is trying her best. And she's great, but going from no kids at all to raising your 16 year old orphaned niece all by yourself after your sister and her husband died in a car crash can be pretty tough. I shivered as we walked under an A/C vent. I was wearing my only pair of jeans, skinny jeans from Hot Topic, with a t-shirt and a hoodie and I was still _freezing._ What the heck?! It's snowing and these people have the AIR CONDITIONING on?? I miss Florida.

"I actually want to go into Hot Topic," I said. My aunt tried to hide her smile; she's not a fan of preppy stores, she shops in them for work clothes but she loves Hot Topic. She's been shopping there since she was a teenager, which wasn't that long ago. She's 24.

I ran a hand through my curly dark hair, looking through the skinny jeans. I already showed 2 pairs to Aunt Heather saying I was done and she said, "Are you kidding? I know you and you love shopping. And that's not even CLOSE to enough clothes!" So I found about 6 more pairs of skinny jeans, and I got 3 more pairs of jeans at a different store.

We were walking out of a store when I saw a girl wearing a light blue sweater, just like the one I have, and reality came back. My parents were dead, and it was all my fault. I dropped the million bags I was holding and wiped my eyes before the tears could fall and turned to my aunt. "Could we go home? I'm not feeling so good anymore."

****

I retreated to my room the second we got home. I already got a tour of the house and unpacked a few days ago. Aunt Heather said we could go shopping for new furniture and stuff like that whenever I wanted, but I didn't care about decorating my room right now. I threw my shopping bags down on my floor, plopped onto my bed, and sobbed.

****

_Later that night_

"Thank you so much!" I gushed, holding my new sweater. There was a huge sale at Hollister and it was the last day, so I begged my parents to take me to the mall.

"You're welcome, honey," My dad said, looking at me from the rearview mirror. "But put your seatbelt on! This is a busy street and a busy time of year, lots of traffic which means lots of accidents."

I rolled my eyes and put my seatbelt on. I took out my phone and started texting my friends, telling them that I got my sweater. I jumped when I heard my mom scream and my dad slam on the breaks as a big semi truck slammed into our car.....

I sat up, screaming. "It was just a dream, just a dream," I whispered to myself. But it wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare of what happened about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I guess I cried myself to sleep, because it was 2 AM now. The tears started falling again, and the guilt washed over me. I stumbled blindly in my dark room over to my bathroom door. I flipped the light switch and squinted, trying to adjust my eyes to the light. I grabbed a new razor from under the sink and slid it across my wrists.


	2. School Day

A/N: Wow, this chapter took me like, over five hours to write lol

"I love your accent!"

"Thank you darling."

"Where are you from?"

"My mother."

*Girl bends over to tie her shoe*

"GET UP! I DID NOT TELL YOU TO BEND OVER!"

*girl jumps up quickly*

"YOU SEE ALL THOSE PEOPLE BEHIND YOU?! IF YOU TRIP AND FALL THEY WILL WALK ALL OVER YOU!"

"YOU LISTEN TO ME. WHEN I SAY JUMP YOU DON'T EVEN ASK HOW HIGH, YOU JUST JUMP!"

The Brooksville Raid fieldtrip was great

_"Forgive my broken promise that you'll never see me cry." ~ David Cook_

**Carly's POV **

_(1st Day of school)_

I sighed and sat down at the only empty table in the lunch room. All I've heard about all day was what people did over Christmas break, since it was the first day back, and that new kid. Which is me. It's funny how nobody will talk to me, but as soon as I leave the only thing they can seem to talk about is me. I was tempted just to toss my lunch into the trash can and hide out in the library until lunch was over, but I decided not to. I rested my elbow in the table and rested my head in my hand, making my side bangs cover my whole face. I brushed them away from my face slightly when I felt like someone staring at me. .....Someone _was _staring at me.

"Can I help you?" I asked, looking up at the girl standing in front of the table.

"This is my table," She said.

I was SO not in the mood for this. "Really? Because I don't see your name printed on it."

She smirked a little and sat down. "Okay, you're cool, you can stay. I'm Morgan, by the way," She said, extending a pale hand with black fingernails. She had long curly brown hair with sidebangs, just like me, and black eyeliner surrounded her hazel eyes. She was wearing skinny jeans with a black long-sleeved shirt with grey and black leopard print cuffs on it, and it had those holes at the end of the sleeve to stick your thumb through.

"Uh, I'm Carly," I said, shaking her hand.

She raised her eyebrows. "You're Emo too? And you obviously must be new to it, because you're making it way too obvious that you're trying to hide it."

I froze. "Why would you think that, and I'm not hiding anything!" I lied.

"Oh yeah? Then why are you wearing wristbands under a long-sleeved shirt?"

".....Okay so maybe I am! And yeah, I'm kinda new to it..."

"Well, my first tip for you is ditch the wristbands. You just look dumb," She said, laughing. I yanked the wristbands off, revealing the red slashes on my wrists.

"Ouch," She said. "Those are really deep. You wanna kill yourself?"

I thought about saying yes, and then shook my head. "Hey, like I said. I'm new."

"Like I could forget," Morgan said, laughing. 'I'm not." She pulled her sleeves up to reveal her wrists; there were fresh cuts, but her whole wrists were covered in scars under them.

"Jeez!" I said. "What's your reason?"

"Preps," She said. Uh-oh. Ex-prep here! "They made fun of me too many times; I had trouble at home, too. But mostly the preps, they think they're so cool, all of them looking the same in the latest Hollister and Aeropostale clothes," She wrinkled her nose. I'm guessing it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her I used to be a prep just yet....

"So what's _you're _story?"

I looked down at the table. "Parents died, I blame myself for it.

"Oh....I'm sorry; forget I asked.....subject change! You're the new girl?"

I thought for a minute, trying to figure out where I've seen her before and nodded. "Yeah, and you're the girl that got a triple detention with her friend for being late and sassing the teacher."

She shrugged. "David was the one who was late picking me up, then we got to school and he forgot his freaking locker combination, which had one of my books in it! Oh, and you forgot the part where David knocked off the teacher's toupee, so I don't even know why I got a third detention for something he did."

"Well, you laughed," I pointed out.

"Well...whatever!" She said, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Oh! You also grabbed his toupee and flung it around the room screaming hot potato....then someone threw it into the fish tank...."

She rolled her eyes. "Well he shouldn't have given me two other detentions!"

*****

I walked into my last period class and sat down in a seat next to Morgan. It turns out we have every single class together....this should be fun! Some guy with brown hair walked over and stood in front of my desk. He had side bangs in the front and it was kind of spiked in the back, and he had brown eyes.

"Whoever you are, you're in my seat," He said. Again?!

"David shut up! That's _her _seat now. But feel free to sit in the one behind her!" Morgan said.

"And why does she get to take my seat?"

"Because she's my new best friend, duh!"

"But I'm your _boyfriend! _And besides, how long have you even known her?"

"Well, mister, YOU got me three detentions, so it doesn't matter if you're my boyfriend. And I've known her since lunch, but we have all of our classes together, so technically I've known her since first period. And besides," Morgan said, starting to grin. "We all know that Mr. Cole likes the girls to sit up front."

David rolled his eyes and sat in the desk behind me as the bell rang and the teacher jumped. He had his back turned to us, and he was pouring clear liquid into a watter bottle, which he almost dropped when the bell rang.

"Paranoid much?" I whispered to Morgan before he turned around.

"You're learning quickly," She smiled.

I turned my attention back to the teacher as he stumbled back to the front of the room.

"Alright class," He sputtered. "Take out your homework I assigned you before winter break, I'll be coming around to make sure you did it. Then you can have the rest of the class period to talk." He looked to be in his late twenties. He had shaggy blonde hair that he constantly had to keep brushing out of his eyes, which were unfocused. I turned to Morgan and raised an eyebrow as he made his way clumsily to the back of the room.

"He starts at the back so he can stand behind the girls and stare down their shirts," She explained. I frowned and looked down; I just had to wear a low cut shirt today. But he had no reason to come and talk to me because I wasn't here before winter break. He got all the way to the front of the first row, which was where Morgan was sitting, and stood behind her, waiting for her to show him her homework. She put her jacket on and zipped up before taking it out, and I could've swore I saw the teacher frown slightly. What a perv! He looked over at me and then walked over.

"Hello, you m-must be Ms. Pruitt. I am Mr. Cole, p-p-pleased to meet you," He said, stuttering over some words. He's had too many sips from that water bottle....

"Nice to meet you," I said. It's really not so nice, actually. This was getting awkward; neither of us were saying anything, and his eyes were slowly drifting down, to my chest...

"I have my homework Mr. Cole," David said, tapping the teacher, which made him snap out of his little spacing off moment.

"Oh. Yes. Right," He said, then stomped off to check the other kids' homework.

I turned around in my seat to talk to David. "Thanks for that!"

"No problem. If you're a friend of Morgan's then you're probably gonna end up being my friend," He said, laughing. "So where are you from?"

By this time Morgan had shifted in her seat so that she could be included in the conversation.

"Uh, Florida," I said. They both stared at me. "Just to get it out there now, I moved here because my parents died in a car crash, so I'm living with my aunt."

Morgan already knew it, but they both stayed quiet for a long time. "Guys? I'm already cutting myself because they died. I've gotten over the crying, and if y'all act all sad I'm gonna start crying again," I said.

"Sorry!" They both said at the same time.

"So...what's Florida like?" Morgan asked.

"Warm," I said. They laughed. I find nothing funny about that.

"Well you must be freezing here since you're used to winters that are eighty degrees," David said.

"And no snow," I added.

"This is the warmest it's going to get, by the end of next week it'll be in the twenties," Morgan smirked. I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Don't do that, it could get stuck to a pole here!" David teased. I glared at him.

"How old are you, two?"

"Three, actually. I'm three."

*******

**Morgan's POV**

I was sitting in my first period classroom. Except nobody else was there except David, and the teacher of course. I really hate getting detentions with Mr. Bunker because he makes us write apology letters to him, and I'm not really sorry. I jumped when a little paper football landed on my desk. I looked up from my apology letter to make sure the teacher was looking-he wasn't. He was messing with his still damp toupee. I figured it was safe, so I unfolded the paper and read it:

_"Okay, don't look now, but there's a wet rat on top of Bunker's head."_

I giggled and quickly scribbled back, "_Yeah. Think we should tell him? I hate this. We can't talk at all. How much longer do we have?" _Folded the paper back, and flicked it over to his desk, but I missed; it landed about 3 feet away. He slid out of his chair, grabbed the paper and slid back into his seat, acting like nothing happened. But the teacher noticed the commotion so he got up from his chair, repositioned his sad looking toupee, and walked over to us.

"_WHAT _is going on?!" He asked.

"NOTHING!" We both said quickly. Mr. Bunker looked over at David's desk and saw the note, and motioned for David to give it to him. David quickly grabbed it and gobbled it as quick as Cookie Monster would gobble a cookie....except paper isn't edible. So, David started choking, and he fell backwards in his chair, which made me start laughing. So I ended up on the floor right next to David. We finally pulled ourselves together, and sat back up in our desks. When we looked down on our desks, we saw freshly written Detention slips. Great.

"You may leave now," Bunker said angrily.

"See ya next Monday!" David called.


	3. Detention

A/N: Hey guys, as you can see I really must like this story because it isn't taking me weeks to update. I'll probably be posting a new chapter either every day or every other day depending on what's going on with school.

Thanks a bunch to Morgan and Wingzy for helping me!

_"And everything, it will surely change even if I tell you I won't go away today" ~ David Cook_

_**Carly's POV**_

I walked into my first period class and the desks were in groups of three. Mr. Bunker was sitting at his desk, playing with his 'hair' and looking incredibly bored. Morgan and David walked in right behind me, looking like they were ready to get into trouble. Except Morgan looked like she'd been crying.

"Hi Mr. Bunker!" David called cheerily as he took his seat.

"Humph," Mr. Bunker muttered. I don't think he likes David too much. Morgan and I took our seats in the two empty desks next to David's. We were doing a lab today. There was a bunsen burner in the middle of our desks, a sheet of aluminum foil, and two sugar cubes.

"Settle down, class," Bunker said as the late bell rang. "You are going to do a sugar lab today. Read over the procedures as a group and get started."

The teacher looked over to where the three of us were sitting and his eyes widened. "You three can NOT work together!"

"Yes we can!" I yelled.

He glared at me. I ignored him and looked down at the lab sheet; it was covered with words, front and back. "I think this is for you," I said, sliding the paper to David.

"He said the whole group reads it," He pointed out.

"Yeah, well you're gonna be the one who does everything anyway," Morgan commented.

"Okay, we have to make five observations about the two sugar cubes, then we have to crush them and find five more observations. Then we have to fold the foil into a boat, put the sugar into the boat, and hold it over the burner until it melts, and when it melts all the way we get to make _another _five observations."

"Sounds easy," I said.

"Who wants to record our observations?"

"You do," Morgan and I said to David at the same time. He rolled his eyes.

"Of course."

"I wanna do the fire part!" I squealed. They both stared at me.

"What? I like burning things!"

"...Okay, Carly will do the fire part," David said. "What part do you want to do, Morgan?"

"The part where I sit here and watch you do all the work."

"What's wrong with you today?" I asked her.

"Tell you at lunch."

"Why have you not started yet?!" Bunker said angrily from behind me, which made me jump.

"Sorry!" I said quickly, turning on the Bunsen burner on full blast.

"You have it on too high!" He yelled, bending down to turn the heat down. He sneezed, which made his toupee fall off his head and onto the burner. The poor thing burst into flames, which made us start laughing.

"Oh my God!" A girl from a different lab group screamed. "Did you guys just put the class pet on the burner?!" That only made the three of us laugh even harder.

"Nice one, Haley," David called.

"T-this would be a g-great time to play hot potato," I said to Morgan between giggles.

She laughed, but then we both screamed when cold foamy liquid hit us.

"You're supposed to spray the _fire_, not us!" Morgan yelled to the teacher. He got the fire out already, I think I just made my way onto his hate list with Morgan and David.

_"Detention!_" He screamed.

"What?! Why? We didn't catch your toupee on fire!" We screamed.

"I don't care." He grabbed what was left of his toupee and chucked it into the trash can, plopping into his seat angrily.

"I wonder if this means we don't have to do the lab," I muttered.

"Hey, just think" That Haley girl said, walking over. "Maybe he'll get a _good looking _toupee now!"

"Detention!"

Haley wrinkled her nose and sat back down with her group. Poor Haley.

The bell rang, and the three of us were the first ones out the door. But not before David could call "See ya in detention!" To Mr. Bunker. I smacked my forehead with my hand and shook my head.

I don't even get why teachers give you detentions. They make you and themself stay after school, they probably hate you, and they're not even getting paid for it! So really, who are they hurting more?

*****

I walked out of the lunch line to our lunch table, and Morgan was sobbing. Her eyeliner was running down her cheeks with her tears, and David had his arm around her, trying to calm her down.

"I'll b-be right b-back," She stuttered at the same time that I sat down.

"Dude, what's wrong with her, she looks terrible!" I said.

"She had major family problems last night, and the preps were making fun of her again," David explained. I flinched when he said prep. It made me remember the days when I would wear the shortest shorts I could find and Hollister shirts every day. I wasn't mean to people, but my friends were, and I laughed. So I guess I was as mean as they were.

"Okay, why do you do that every time someone says the word prep?" David asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Well...." I started, but stopped. Morgan was back. She fixed her makeup, and when she reached her hand up to wipe her eyes I could see there were fresh cuts on her wrists.

"Darling, you okay?" David asked. Morgan shook her head. He got up and hugged her, which brought tears to my eyes; my parents would do the exact same thing whenever I was sad.

I wiped my eyes before the tears could fall and tried to think of something to say as Morgan and David sat down.

"So...did you get any more detentions, David?" I asked.

He smirked. "Let's just say I will not be free after school for the next week and a half."

"What did you do?!"

"Well, I have today's detention, I got two more today for sometime this week, and I have the rest of Bunker's detentions." David explained.

"Wow."

*****

It's the end of the day, finally! But I have a two hour detention right after this with Morgan, David and Haley. We were standing outside of Mr. Cole's classroom, waiting until the last possible second to enter the room before we were late. David hugged Morgan and gave her a kiss, right in front of the window of Mr. Cole's classroom, and then we walked in.

"No phones, no texting, no IPods'," Mr. Cole said from his desk, not even seeming to care that just about everyone in the room had their phones and IPods' out.

We took our seats and Mr. Cole said, "David you get a detention. You too, Morgan."

"Why?!" The asked.

"PDA, Public Display of Affection."

"But Mr. Cole," I piped in. "You do PDP's every day!"

"What is PDP?" He asked.  
"Public Display of Pervertedness," I smiled sweetly.

His nostrils flared and he glared at me. "Detention."

I shrugged. "Okay, but I can't do it today, my schedule's full for this afternoon."

"Yeah," Morgan and David said. "We get to spend two hours with Mr. Bunker's smiling face."

"I don't care," He said. "You can come for another two hours right after his detention."  
I slapped my desk and stood up. "I OBJECT!!"

"Overruled."

"Not overruled!"

"Sit down." I glared at him and sat down. He turned around to take a swig of his 'special water' and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I saw that."

*****

We were walking out of Bunker's classroom and walking to Mr. Cole's room when Haley caught up to us. "Aren't you guys going home?"

"Psh, we wish," I said. "We have a detention with Mr. Cole now."

"Oh, that sucks. Well, bye!"

We walked into Mr. Cole's classroom and he was passed out at his desk, and his watter bottle was empty. We all slowly backed out of the classroom, and then ran to the parking lot.

"You need a ride?" David asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I kinda missed my bus, since its....almost six o' clock," I said, checking my phone.

We all got into David's car, and within seconds the school was far behind us.

"So children," David said in a fatherly voice. "How was school?"

"I had two detentions in a row, but my history teacher is a drunk so he passed out before our detention started!" Morgan said in a little kid voice.

"Me too! I also got half of my teachers to hate me, and I've only been at this school for two days!" I squealed.

"That's great!" David said.

We all laughed. "Turn left here," I said, pointing to my aunt's driveway.

"Dude, you live in a mansion!"

"It's not a mansion, it's just a big house!" I argued, then laughed. "Do you guys want to come in?"

*******

**David's POV**

Dude. Carly lives in a freaking mansion, I don't care what she says! We smelled food so Carly led us into the kitchen, where a woman looking to be in her early twenties was standing at a stove, putting steak out into the oven. Nobody said anything yet so when she turned around she screamed.

"Oh, you're home!" She squeaked, and then smiled. "And you have friends with you!"

Carly laughed. "Yeah, surprising, isn't it? This is David and Morgan."

Morgan and I both said hi, and the lady came over and hugged us. "Hi! I'm Aunt Heather, but you can just call me Heather." I chuckled when I saw Carly's face turning red.

"Would do like to stay for dinner?" Heather asked us. I waited to see what Morgan wanted to do, I was planning to take her to dinner since she had a bad day. But she always gets steak when we go out anyway, so of course she says she wants to stay. I nodded too.

"Great! Dinner will be ready in about an hour or so," Heather called as Carly led us out of the kitchen.

"Carly, your kitchen is bigger than my whole house," I joked.

Morgan smacked my arm. "It is not, you have a big house too!"

******

"Oh my gosh, I'm so full I don't think I can move," Morgan said from the futon in Carly's room, which was twice the size of mine.

"You have your own _bathroom_?!" I asked in shock. Carly was sitting next to Morgan on the futon, and I was walking around her room. A pillow hit me, which made me jump.

"Ow!"

"Stop talking about my house!"

Carly and I arguing made Morgan laugh. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. "Shesh! We need to go, it's almost ten."

I started walking to the door, but a picture on Carly's desk caught my eye. She looked so happy; She was at the mall with some girl, wearing shorts and a Hollister shirt, her skin was super tan, and she had highlights in her hair, and bangs. Not side bangs, preppy little bangs covering her whole forehead. I raised an eyebrow and started walking to the door with Morgan.

"I'll be right there," I told her. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from Carly's desk and scribbled down my phone number, then handed it to her.

"...Why did you give me this?" She asked, confused.

I tapped the picture. "You've got some explaining to do."


	4. Adam!

A/N: OMG. Longest. Chapter. Ever.

Today in chorus we had to go up to the teacher and sing for her for a grade. Last year we had to do this, and I didn't have any friends in my chorus. (Until I switched to Advanced) There were a lot of bad kids in my chorus who refused to sing, too. So last year I got put into a group of 5 to sing for a grade, and I was the only one that sang. I wasn't that nervous. Bu this year, I got put into a group with Morgan and 3 other people who sang, too. But I was so nervous my _head _was shaking. Lol. Is that normal?

Anyways.......

Ty so much Morgan for helping!

Oh, and to answer Wingzy's and Twilightsun01's review, I did not call your bangs preppy. David did. Lol.

_"Will you think that you're all alone"~ David Cook_

**Carly's POV (3 days later**

"It's finally Friday!" Morgan squealed as we walked into chorus. "So are we going to do movie night at my house tonight?"

"Sounds good to me," David said before he left to take his seat in the tenor section, while Morgan and I went to the alto section. Those parts are right next to each other, and it just magically worked out that Morgan and David sit next to each other.

"...Movie night?" I asked as the late bell rang and the teacher started talking. We have a fun teacher, but she talks for like, half the period and we only get like, ten minutes to sing!

"Yeah, we all hang out on Friday nights, like we go to the mall or the movies or something. And since it's so cold we've decided to do movie nights at our houses," Morgan explained.

"Yeah, and because we're broke," David added.

"Excuse me!" Mrs. Kimsey said. We all jumped. "Sorry to break up the very important conversation the three of you are having, but the bell _has _rung and class has started! And I know you are new here, Carly, so you will get a warning today. But when people talk in my class when class has started and it's my turn to talk, they have to do a solo, and I do grade it. So Morgan, David, you two get to do a solo. You have two minutes to figure out what song you are going to sing."

My cheeks were burning, as were Morgan's and David's. Strict teacher. I casually turned around in my seat both ways to count how many people were in our chorus class. We're in the most advanced, audition only chorus, with boys and girls. There are sixty students in this room.

"I'm sorry!" I whispered. They rolled their eyes.

"It's fine," They said. "We do a solo just about every week since we talk so much."

"Your two minutes are up," The teacher called. "David, you first."

David stood up and walked to the center of the room, completely calm. He's obviously done this a lot.

"Alrighty, I'm gonna sing I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing, by Aerosmith," He said, winked at Morgan, then started singing.

_I could stay awake just to hear you breathing__  
__Watch you smile while you are sleeping__  
__Far away and dreaming__  
__I could spend my life in this sweet surrender__  
__I could stay lost in this moment forever__  
__Well, every moment spent with you__  
__Is a moment I treasure___

_I don't wanna close my eyes__  
__I don't wanna fall asleep__  
__'Cause I'd miss you, babe__  
__And I don't wanna miss a thing__  
__'Cause even when I dream of you__  
__The sweetest dream will never do__  
__I'd still miss you, babe__  
__And I don't wanna miss a thing___

_Lying close to you__  
__Feeling your heart beating__  
__And I'm wondering what you're dreaming__  
__Wondering if it's me you're seeing__  
__Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together__  
__And I just wanna stay with you__  
__In this moment forever, forever and ever___

_I don't wanna close my eyes__  
__I don't wanna fall asleep__  
__'Cause I'd miss you, babe__  
__And I don't wanna miss a thing__  
__'Cause even when I dream of you__  
__The sweetest dream will never do__  
__I'd still miss you, babe__  
__And I don't wanna miss a thing___

_I don't wanna miss one smile__  
__I don't wanna miss one kiss__  
__Well, I just wanna be with you__  
__Right here with you, just like this__  
__I just wanna hold you close__  
__Feel your heart so close to mine__  
__And stay here in this moment__  
__For all the rest of time___

_Don't wanna close my eyes__  
__Don't wanna fall asleep__  
__'Cause I'd miss you, babe__  
__And I don't wanna miss a thing__  
__'Cause even when I dream of you__  
__The sweetest dream will never do__  
__'Cause I'd still miss you, babe__  
__And I don't wanna miss a thing___

_I don't wanna close my eyes__  
__I don't wanna fall asleep__  
__'Cause I'd miss you, babe__  
__And I don't wanna miss a thing__  
__'Cause even when I dream of you__  
__The sweetest dream will never do__  
__I'd still miss you, babe__  
__And I don't wanna miss a thing___

_Don't wanna close my eyes__  
__Don't wanna fall asleep, yeah__  
__I don't wanna miss a thing _

I closed my mouth, which had popped open about 5 seconds after he had started singing. He was amazing! He had gotten a standing ovation, even from the teacher. I looked over and Morgan's eyes were glassy. I didn't know David could sing! Oh, and did I mention that when you had to do a solo, you had to do it a capella?!

"David, that was amazing, simply amazing! A plus," The teacher said, trying to get order back into the classroom again. "Morgan, your turn."

She nervously got up and walked to the center of the room, just like David did. He winked at her again as he went to go sit down.

"Dude, you can sing!" I whispered to David.

"Really?!" He asked excitedly. "I hadn't noticed!" I wrinkled my nose and stuck my tongue out at him as Morgan started talking.

"Uh, I'm going to sing Fireflies, by Owl City." She took a shaky breath and started singing.

_You would not believe your eyes__  
__If ten million fireflies__  
__Lit up the world as I fell asleep__  
__Cause they'd fill the open air__  
__And leave tear drops everywhere__  
__You'd think me rude but I would just stand and__  
__Stare___

_I'd like to make myself believe__  
__That planet Earth turns, slowly__  
__It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep__  
__Cause everything is never as it seems___

_Cause I'd get a thousand hugs__  
__From ten thousand lightning bugs__  
__As they tried to teach me how to dance__  
__A foxtrot above my head__  
__A sock-hop beneath my bed__  
__The disco ball is just hanging by a thread___

_I'd like to make myself believe__  
__That planet Earth turns, slowly__  
__It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep__  
__Cause everything is never as it seems__  
__When I fall asleep___

_Leave my door open just a crack__  
__Cause I feel like such an insomniac__  
__Why do I tire of counting sheep?__  
__When I'm far too tired to fall asleep___

_To ten million fireflies__  
__I'm weird cause I hate goodbyes__  
__I got misty eyes as they said farewell__  
__But I'll know where several are__  
__If my dreams get real bizarre__  
__Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar___

_I'd like to make myself believe__  
__That planet Earth turns, slowly__  
__It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep__  
__Cause everything is never as it seems_

_I'd like to make myself believe__  
__That planet Earth turns, slowly__  
__It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep__  
__Cause everything is never as it seems___

_I'd like to make myself believe__  
__That planet Earth turns, slowly__  
__It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep__  
__Because my dreams are bursting at the seams _

*****

"Okay," Morgan said to me as I sat down at the lunch table. "So are you in or no?"

I stared at her with a confused look on my face. "Huh?"

"Movie night!"

"Oh, that," I said. "Uh, sure."

"Yay!" Morgan clapped, taking a sip of her soda. I took a sip of my mocha Frappucino that I just bought from some kid for twenty bucks and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Oh come on, even you know coffee's better," I said. Then some random guy came up behind Morgan and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, resting his head on her shoulder. I looked over at David to see why he wasn't freaking out...he was grinning. Morgan squeaked and jumped a little when the guy startled her, but then she jumped up and bear hugged the guy.

"ADAM!!" She yelled, still hugging the guy. Let's call him Adam.

He staggered backwards a little and laughed. "Miss me much?"

"Oh no, not at all," She said sarcastically. "You've only been gone since the first day of winter break!" She let go of him, but he still had his head on her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her. David stood up and walked over to them.  
"Adam, how many times do I have to tell you that shes _my _girlfriend?!" He asked, then laughed. Him and Adam did a handshake thing and then bumped shoulders, then they both sat down. I just sat there feeling invisible.

"I'm just tired," Adam yawned, resting his forehead on the table.

"Uh huh, sure. We all know you just want Morgan," David joked. "We really need to get you a girlfriend so you can stop trying to take mine."

Adam's head snapped up. "I don't need a girlfriend! How many times do I hate to tell y.......who's she?" Adam said, motioning to me. I looked up from staring at my Frappucino, looked at Adam, looked away and instantly looked back. He was _gorgeous! _He had shaggy black hair with sidebangs that slightly covered his hazel eyes, and he had perfect skin. He was wearing a blue and black plaid long-sleeved button up shirt and skinny jeans. I couldn't stop staring.

I shook my head, realizing I spaced off and blushed; everybody was staring at me now.

"That's Carly," David said, tired of waiting for me to introduce myself.

"Hi," Adam said, smiling. I just sat there looking like a dork.

Morgan rolled her eyes. "She says hi. Now why weren't you here in the past three classes?!"

"I kinda just got back from vacation. My mom made me go to school, I haven't been home since we left for winter break. I had to bring everythingI needed for school, so they could drop me off when we go tinto town," Adam said miserably. "Not to mention the time change."

"Where'd you go?" I asked, finally managing to find my voice.

"Colorado," He replied, taking out a Monster. "Hopefully this'll wake me up."

He took one huge gulp, wrinkled his nose, and put the can down. "That's my first and last Monster."

"Can I have it???" Morgan asked, already reaching for the energy drink.

"That's not such a good idea...." David warned.

"SHUT UP!" Morgan shouted, grabbing the can and chugging it.

David's eye started twitching. "Great."

******

I rested my back against the wall in the gym and slid down to the floor. I hate this class.

"So why is giving Morgan energy drinks a bad idea?" I asked David, incredibly bored.

He returned my bored expression with one of his own. "Oh, you'll find out in about......"-

"I'm bored can we do something let's go do something you guys are so emo just sitting there get up get up get up!" Morgan said all in one breath. I turned my head slowly and just stared at her.

"What the-"

"LET'S GO PLAY BASKETBALL!" Morgan squealed.

"....Morgan you hate basketball," David pointed out.

"I don't want to play _basketball, _I want to play _with_ a basketball!" She screamed. She ran over to where the guys were playing basketball and snatched the ball. All of the guys started screaming and chasing after her. She started screaming at the top of her lungs and running full speed. Towards us.

Just before she got to us, Morgan turned around and chucked the ball. "You can have it! Just don't kill me!"

The ball bounced off the basketball pole and smacked David in the head.

"....WAS THAT NECCESSARY?!" HE screamed, rubbing his head.

"Definately," Morgan answered, nodding her head a million times. He grabbed the ball and threw it again, and it hit Haley.

"OW!" Haley screamed. "WHO THREW THAT?!"

"MORGAN DID!" We all screamed. So now, not only are the guys that want the basketball chasing Morgan, Haley is also. Priceless.

"Now look at that," Our gym teacher said, smiling. "Your friend Morgan is running laps. You should be more like her instead of sitting on your butts."

"YOU DO LAPS THEN!" I screamed at him. He stared at me and raised an eyebrow. I just stared right back, not caring what would happen for screaming at him. I didn't have time to see what would happen though, because Morgan came running around the gym for about the fifth time, threw the ball at me and said, "YOUR TURN!"

I grabbed the ball before it could hit me in the face and looked up; people were in front of me, and they looked like they wanted to hurt me. So I ran.

*****

"Class, today I'm giving you an assignment," Mr. Cole said. Wow, shocking. Never knew he'd say that, all we do in this class is just sit here.

"You need to do a report on some famous author. You can do it however you want, but you have to have a partner. You have thirty seconds to find your partner before I pick them." I rolled my eyes. Why is this man even a teacher?!

I turned around to try and find a partner; Morgan was with David, no surprise there, Haley was with Geordan, and Katie was with some random person that I don't know. Everybody had a partner, except me and Adam.

"Well Carly, since you and Mr. Lambert have ignored what I said, I guess I'll have to pair you two up," Mr. Cole said, shaking his head with a frown on his face.

My eye started twitching. "Well ofcourse you're going to have to pair us up, we're the only people without PARTNERS!" I shouted.

"Don't sass me," He warned. I glared at him. I opened my mouth to say more, but the bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and the end of the weekend.

"That report is due on Monday," Mr. Cole said.

"WHAT?!" I yelled. "We didn't even have any class time! How are we going to get it done?!"

"Do it at home. Duh," He said. I dropped my head down, making my hair cover my face. I hate him.

"Uh, hey," Adam said, standing in front of my desk. I jumped up and gasped, starting to choke.

"...Are you okay?" He asked, looking worried.

"Y-yeah," I coughed. "Just swallowed my gum, but I'm fine." He laughed.

"Well, I was just wondering when you wanted to work on the project. Can you do it tonight?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Cool," He said.

We walked out of the classroom, right behind Morgan and David. We walked about two steps outside and Morgan practically collapsed in David's arms.

"I'm tiiired," She whined.

He looked over at me and shook his head. "See what I mean?"

*****

"Are you sure you'll be okay if I go?" Aunt Heather asked, for about the thousandth time. "I'll stay home if you need me to, Paul will understand."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Just go! Don't worry about me."

"But I don't want you alone on a Friday night!"

"Actually, someone's coming over in a few minutes to work on a project, and then I'm going over to Morgan's to hang out," I explained.

"That's great! Do I know the person coming over? Is it a boy? What's his name?" She asked, eager to hear the latest news.

"How did you know it was a boy?"

"The way you said 'someone's coming over,' dead giveaway, sweetie. Don't forget, I was a teenager eight years ago. So do you like him?" Aunt Heather asked.

I sighed. "His name is Adam, and I don't really know him well but I kinda like him."

"What's he like???"

I was about to answer, when I heard my phone ringing. "Be right back!" I called as I ran up the staircase into my room.

"Helo?"

"Hey, it's Morgan. I'm on David's phone."

"Oh, hey."

"So do you like Adam?"

I froze. Where did that come from?! "Uh......"

There was a lot of static and then, "Give me my phone Morgan!"

There was a lot arguing and a big thud. "What are you guys doing?!" I asked, but the line went dead.

"....Okay then," I said, walking down the steps. I froze on the last step. My eyes widened; Adam was at the door, and my aunt was talking about me.

******

**Adam's POV**

I knocked on the door at the address that Carly gave me, and a lady that looked like she was twenty opened the door. "Uh, hi. I'm Adam," I said awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm Carly's aunt, she'll be right down." She looked at me for a second, then smiled. "I can tell why Carly likes you!"

I laughed awkwardly, then laughed even harder when I saw Carly, wide eyed and open mouthed, standing on the staircase. Her aunt turned and looked at what I was laughing at.

"Oh, hi sweetie. Adam's here," She said as Carly walked over to where we were. "You two kids have fun!" She said cheerily, wiggling her eyebrows at Carly as she left. If it was possible, Carly's face got even redder.

"Sorry about that!" She said, looking incredibly embarassed. "She didn't totally harrass you, did she?"

I laughed. "No, she was actually pretty funny."

Carly and I were on her laptop in her living room, trying to find an author to do our project on. Well, I was on her laptop, she was sitting there spacing.

"How about we do it on Charles Dickens, or Jane Austen?" I offered.

She wrinkled her nose, then her face brightened. "Let's do our project on Dr. Seuss!"

"Shouldn't we pick somebody else, someone who doesn't write stories for kids?"

She sighed. "That's boring. So you're the goody goody in your little group?"

I laughed. "Not even close." I looked at my phone and sighed. "Well, we've managed to sit here for about two hours and all we have is the person we're going to do our project on."

Carly shrugged. "Hey, it's progress."

*****

**Carly's POV**

I sat down at the bar in Morgan's kitchen, pretty freaked out about the movie we were watching. Everyone but me was asleep and I didn't want to watch the movie anymore. I screamed and almost spilled my drink when someone tapped my shoulder.

"Sheesh, calm donw!" David whispered loudly.

"Then don't scare me!"

"....Touche. Now, we need to talk," He said, sitting down in the stool next to me. "So what's up with that picture of you?"

I gulped. I couldn't tell him. "Well.....I used to be a prep, and now I'm not. The end." I wasn't technically _lying, _I just wasn't telling him _everything _about my past.

"Carly." David's face was serious.

"...Yeah?"

"If Morgan found out about this she'd be devastated. You know what the preps do to her."


	5. Just your average day

A/n: I finally got to update! I have pretty much the whole story figured out, except for the ending. I'm quite proud.

Oh, and other news...I made it into my school's Mixed Choir!

....I'll shut up now

Anyways...enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**_"_**_When no one's there to hold your hand?"~ David Cook_

**Carly's POV ( 2 Weeks later)**

"Carly! Stop that incessant tapping!" Mr. Bunker scolded, which made me jump and throw my pencil that I was tapping against my desk. I glared at my pencil, which was in front of a desk several rows away from mine.

"You are not important enough for me to go over and pick you up," I said to my pencil as Morgan burst through the door......twenty minutes late.

"Nice of you to join us, Ms. Hills," Bunker said, turning to the door and then going back to the board. Morgan stuck her tongue out at him when he wasn't looking and tok her seat by me.

"Dude, you look like you just ran through the woods," I said to her, pointing to her wild looking hair and the cut on her cheek.

"I _did _just run through the woods!" She said angrily. "David picks me up every day, and he didn't today. He hasn't answered his phone since yesterday morning, too. So I had to take a route through the woods to get to school because all the preps live in my neighborhood, and I don't want to deal with their crap before I'm even at school."

"You uh, got a little something in your hair," I said awkwardly, pulling leaves and twigs from her hair.

She sighed. "David better have a _very good _reason for all this."

*****

"Woah, what happened to her?" Adam asked as he walked into the chorus room.

"David didn't pick her up for school today so she had to walk through the woods to school because of the preps and she got attacked by the branches," I said all at once.

"Well he certainly has a lot of explaining to do," Adam said.

"Got that right."

"Carly, Adam," Our teacher said sweetly. "Since you two want to talk to badly, how about you two do a solo for the class?"

Great. "I nominate Adam to go first!"

He shrugged and walked to the front of the room. "Um.....I'm gonna sing Mad World."

_All around me are familiar faces__  
__Worn out places, worn out faces__  
__Bright and early for their daily races__  
__Going nowhere, going nowhere__  
__Their tears are filling up their glasses__  
__No expression, no expression__  
__Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow__  
__No tomorrow, no tomorrow___

_And I find it kinda funny__  
__I find it kinda sad__  
__The dreams in which I'm dying__  
__Are the best I've ever had__  
__I find it hard to tell you__  
__I find it hard to take__  
__When people run in circles__  
__It's a very, very mad world mad world___

_Children waiting for the day they feel good__  
__Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday__  
__And I feel the way that every child should__  
__Sit and listen, sit and listen__  
__Went to school and I was very nervous__  
__No one knew me, no one knew me__  
__Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson__  
__Look right through me, look right through me___

_And I find it kinda funny__  
__I find it kinda sad__  
__The dreams in which I'm dying__  
__Are the best I've ever had__  
__I find it hard to tell you__  
__I find it hard to take__  
__When people run in circles__  
__It's a very, very mad world ... mad world__  
__Enlarging your world__  
__Mad world _

Everybody clapped and Adam sat down, which meant I was next. I felt myself start to blush furiously as I stood and walked to the front of the room.

"I'm g-going to sing Fallin' for Y-you," I stuttered.

_I don't know but_

_I think I maybe__  
__Fallin' for you__  
__Dropping so quickly__  
__Maybe I should__  
__Keep this to myself__  
__Waiting 'til I__  
__Know you better___

_I am trying__  
__Not to tell you__  
__But I want to__  
__I'm scared of what you'll say__  
__So I'm hiding what I'm feeling__  
__But I'm tired of__  
__Holding this inside my head___

_I've been spending all my time__  
__Just thinking about ya__  
__I don't know where to__  
__I think I'm fallin' for you__  
__I've been waiting all my life__  
__And now I found ya__  
__I don't know where to__  
__I think I'm fallin' for you__  
__I'm fallin' for you___

_As I'm standing here__  
__And you hold my hand__  
__Pull me towards you__  
__And we start to dance__  
__All around us__  
__I see nobody__  
__Here in silence__  
__It's just you and me___

_I'm trying__  
__Not to tell you__  
__But i want to__  
__I'm scared of what you'll say__  
__So I'm hiding what I'm feeling__  
__But I'm tired of__  
__Holding this inside my head___

_I've been spending all my time__  
__Just thinking about ya__  
__I don't know where to__  
__I think I'm fallin' for you__  
__I've been waiting all my life__  
__And now I found ya__  
__I don't know where to__  
__I think I'm fallin' for you__  
__I'm fallin' for you___

_Oh I just can't take it__  
__My heart is racing__  
__The emotions keep spinning out___

_I've been spending all my time__  
__Just thinking about ya__  
__I don't know where to__  
__I think I'm fallin' for you__  
__I've been waiting all my life__  
__And now I found ya__  
__I don't know where to__  
__I think I'm fallin' for you__  
__I'm fallin' for you__  
__I think I'm fallin' for you___

_I can't stop thinking about it__  
__I want you all around me__  
__And now I just can't hide it__  
__I think I'm fallin' for you __  
__I'm fallin' for you___

_Ooohhh__  
__Oh no no__  
__Oooooohhh__  
__Oh I'm fallin' for you_

_ *****_

Morgan and I shivered again as we ran to chase the soccer ball. We were in several layers of clothes, jackets, and sweats. I really hate the gym teachers. It's freaking snowing and we have to be outside! I finally got the ball and began running down to the other team's goal. I really missed playing this.....

"Good shot Adam!" I heard a guy say to Adam as he got a goal. He's really cute.....

Before I knew what happened, some girl came up behind me and kicked the ball away from me, kicking my leg up in the air in the process, so I went flying backwards. I gasped in pain as the wind got knocked out of me as my back hit the hard ground. I tried sitting up, then instantly regretted it. My head started throbbing so badly I couldn't see for a few seconds. I was aware of a bunch of people crowding around me, then I heard my coach's loud voice, making me jump.

"Pruitt! You okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Peachy."

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"....The sky is purple," I said, incredibly bored, and hoping that I wouldn't have to play anymore if I sounded brain-damaged.

"We need to get you over to the sidelines," He said, bending down to pick me up.

"I CAN WALK!" I yelled, not wanting to be picked up by him.

He got back up, yelled, "Stop standing around, back to playing!" To everyone else, and walked away. I winced, trying to get up. Like that was going to happen.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked, running over to where Morgan and I were.

"Fine, just fine." People, do you seriously have to ask me that question?!

"Coach was right, you have to go sit down. Can you walk?"

I blushed. Maybe falling flat on my back isn't so bad after all! I shook my head quickly, then mentally kicked myself as my head started throbbing worse. "Ow."

Adam carefully lifted me up in his arms and carried me over to the other side of the field, when he could've walked five steps in the other direction and put me down next to the coach. He set me down, and luckily I could sit up. Morgan and Adam sat down next to me, and then David showed up.

"Nice of you to finally show up!" Morgan spat. David winced.

"I'm _really _sorry, Morgan."

"You made me walk through the woods to get to school! And why are you wearing your jacket funny?"

David carefully moved his jacket away from his right arm, revealing a green cast. "I fell down the stairs."

"Oh...wow I feel terrible now," Morgan said.

David smirked. "No, I feel terrible, I should have called. To make it up to you, do you want to go to the dance with me?"

Morgan's face went blank. "Uh, let me get back to you on that....I need to talk to Carly."

"That was random but okay," Adam and David said as they walked away.

"Are you feeling any better?" Morgan asked. I nodded.

"I should stop spacing so much."

"Yeah, that might help. Oh, and I loved your solo in chorus, by the way. What made you sing that song?"

I felt my whole face turn hot. "No specific reason....."

"Is the reason you sang that song the same reason why you spaced?"

"I have no idea what you mean. And why didn't you tell David you'd go to the dance with him?" I asked, casually trying to change the subject.

Morgan sighed and rolled her eyes. "Hey, missy. Don't try and change the subject. You and I _both _know that you have a serious crush on Adam. And I hate dances."

I thought for a moment. "You should go with him."

"Why? I'd have to wear a dress!"

"But you'd be with David!" I laughed. "You don't love David enough to put on a dress for three hours? You can wear your converse," I added.

She glared at me, then grinned evilly. "Fine, but only because you guilted me into it. But one condition." I raised my eyebrows for her to continue. "_You _have to ask _Adam _to the dance. Today, after school. Oh, and did I mention that the dance is on his seventeenth birthday?"

"....I hate you."

*****

Morgan walked through the door of Mr. Cole's room, sat down, and then the bell rang. "Detention," Mr. Cole said to Morgan.

"What?! I was in my seat before the bell rang!"

"I don't care, you get a detention." He smiled. "Oh, and none of your other friends have detentions, it's just you and me today."

Morgan's eyes widened as Mr. Cole turned to write something on the board. David picked his notebook up and threw it at Mr. Cole, hitting him in the back of the head.

"WHO THREW THAT?!" He screamed and whirled around to face us.

"DAVID!" I screamed.

"Carly! Detention!"

"What did I do?!"

"You blamed David for something you did!" He screamed, his head turning red.

"I didn't do that, the notebook even has David's name on it!"

"Shut the hell up!"

This was getting bad. "You can't use profanity."

"You wanna see profanity?" I gulped and shook my head. "Then shut your damn mouth!"

I frowned and sat back in my seat. "Carly and I can't be alone with him, who knows what he'll do to us!" Morgan whispred.

David apparantly thought it was the perfect time to start making out with Morgan, because that's exactly what he did. He looked out of the corner of his eye to see if Mr. Cole was watching. He had turned his back to us again to stat writing on the board. David used his good hand and started banging loudly on the desk, making Mr. Cole turn around.

"...Okay who started kissing who first?"

David grinned. "Morgan."

"David you have a detention for blaming Morgan."

Adam leaned forward in his seat. "Nice goin, guys!"

"Adam, you too. For talking to them." Adam frowned.

*****

"Do it. _Now,_" Morgan ordered as we were walking to the parking lot after detention. I sighed and walked over to Adam.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked. He nodded, and we walked a few feet away from Morgan and David.

I took a deep breath and started to speak, when Adam interrupted me.

"Do you want to go to the dance with me?"


	6. The dance

A/n: Nothing really Author's Note worthy has happened, so.......yeah.

Oh! Except for the fact that me and Morgan got drunk on Chinese food last night. Yeah, don't ask how we did that.

She slept over last night and we got some Chinese food...and then we got really high.......lol.

I'm just gonna shut up now..

Oh, just found out my great grandma died....... ):

* * *

_"When all you know seems so far away,"~ David Cook_

_**Morgan's POV**_

_**"**_Happy birthday Adam!" I said, hugging Adam when he walked into the lunch room. "I got you a present, too!"

I gave him the small box after he sat down. He opened the box up to reveal a neon green and black studded belt.

"Thanks Morgan! Where'd you get it?" Adam asked. Crap.

"Well....that store.....that sells belts," I stuttered. I didn't buy the present, I forgot!

Adam laughed. "You forgot to get a present so David bought a present for you to give to me."

I blushed. "Not exactly......I was going to buy you a present, but I have no idea what sixteen"-

"Seventeen."

"Well you just turned seventeen! _Anyway, _I had no idea what you wanted to so I kept putting off getting you a present...and _then _I forgot."

"...Morgan how long have you known me?" Adam asked.

"Since kindergarten...."

Adam shook his head and laughed. "Wow Morgan. Just wow."

"...Well I think this is a great time for you to open my present!" David said, pushing a wrapped box at Adam.

Adam smirked, then a confused expression spread across his face. "Uh...fuzzy dice?"

"Yeah!" David said, grinning. Okay, he didn't know what to get Adam either. We're such great friends!

"You know I got a car?" Wait. What?!

"You got a car?! Now I'm the only one who doesn't have one!" I whined.

"...Okay first of all you're fifteen. Second of all, Carly doesn't have a car either," David pointed out.

"Speaking of Carly, where is she?" Adam asked.

"She's at counseling. Her aunt makes her go once a month, just to make sure she's doing okay with...everything," I explained.

"Does her aunt know she cuts?" I shook my head.

"Hey, why does she cut anyway?" Jeez Adam was asking a lot of questions!

"Because her parents died."

"Well that's not a very good reason."

"It's a perfect reason!" I argued. "She blames herself for their deaths, you have no idea what it must feel like to think that your parents died because of you."

Adam looked me straight in the eyes, his face serious now. "In case you've forgotten Morgan, I _have _felt like two people that I love died because of me, and I still _do."_

*****

**Carly's POV**

We have a new Language Arts teacher. Our principal finally got enough complaints from students and their parents to do a little investigating. He walked in and found Mr. Cole passed out at his desk with an empty alcohol bottle lying next to him.

"Okay class," Our new teacher said. "My name is Mr. Klaus, and I'm going to be your new Language Arts teacher." I couldn't help but giggle. He had white hair, but only on the sides of his head.

I raised my hand. "Can I just call you Santa?"

He thought for a moment. "Yes."

The teacher had given us our assignment and everyone was working quietly. There was a loose screw at the edge of my desk, so I unscrewed it all the way and took it out of the desk since it was annoying me. I went back to my work, acting like I did nothing, when my entire desk collapsed. I felt myself start to blush furiously as every pencil stopped writing, and I could tell that everybody's eyes were on mine. I winced and slid down into my chair, awaiting the screams that were sure to come.

"Whoa! Did you do that with your mind? You were just doing your work and then _BAM!_" Santa said. I frowned.

"You're not going to scream at me and give me a detention?" I asked, extremely confused.

"....Um, do you want a detention?"

"No!"

"Well alright then!"

*****

Adam and I stepped through the heart covered doors and into the gym, which was also covered in hearts. Can you guess the theme?

We were walking around for a few minutes when I turned to face the doors and started laughing; David was dragging Morgan in, who dug her heels into the ground. They were both gorgeous! David wore a tuxedo and Morgan had on a strapless black and white polka dot dress with a red belt and red Converse.

"You actually got her into the dress?" Adam asked.

"Yes, but I have no idea how!" David said. "She kicked me in the nuts!"

"Well she bit me!" I argued. Morgan shrugged.

"I don't like dresses."

*****

**Morgan's POV**

"Say cheese!" The peppy lady that was taking David and I's picture said before she snapped the camera. I rolled my eyes after taking the picture and walked over to the table to wait for the picture to develop. Just as we were leaving, Carly and Adam were coming out to get their pictures. I have to say, they are perfect for each other. Carly's white spaghetti strap dress with black patterns swirling around it and a black belt went perfectly with her black strappy sling heels. Adam of course was in a tuxedo, along with every other male in at the dance.

"They are so cute," I gushed to David. He nodded.

"Yeah. I'm just a little concerned about Adam. He likes Carly more than he shows, and every time she has new cuts on her wrists, he gets a look on his face like....like....."

I raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Like when I see that you have fresh cuts..." He admitted. I got on my toes and pecked David's lips.

"You're such a sweetie, but it's not that bad of a thing to do."

He scoffed. "No, not at all. You're only slitting your skin open, making yourself bleed because you're mad at the world."

".....Shut up!"

*****

**Carly's POV**

"Can we talk?" Adam asked, putting his soda down on the table that we were sitting at.

"Uh, I thought we were talking but alright."

He sighed. "Carly, I like you. A lot. But if we're going to go out, I need you to do something for me."

I blushed and then wrinkled my eyebrows. "Okay....?"

"Can you stop cutting?"

I froze. I couldn't do that, not after what I caused! "Adam, I can't....."

"Please," He begged. "Every time I see fresh cuts on your wrists it really worries me. You may only be cutting now, but then one day cutting might not be enough for you."

I pursed my lips. I really like Adam...but.....can I stop cutting?

I sighed. "Okay. I'll stop."

"Promise?"

"I promise."


	7. Happy Valentine's Day!

A/N: Hey guys! Long time no see! Well, I FINALLY finished this chapter, thank God. The next few chapters are going to get really crazy, so be prepared. Oh, and I think I'm going to have chapter previews at the end of every chapter from now on, so you can get an idea of what's gonna happen next. And so I can torture you (: MWAAHAHA! Lol jk

_"And everything is temporary, rest your head." ~ David Cook_

**Carly's POV (Valentine's Day)**

I buried my face in the beautiful red roses that Adam gave me for Valentine's Day, inhaling their scent. I looked over and Morgan was glaring at me.

"What?"

"I can't believe you got roses! You and Adam have been dating for two weeks and he gets you roses and a giant adorable teddy bear. I've been dating David for three YEARS and I don't even get a bear, let alone roses!" Morgan complained. I blushed and slid down in my seat, which is hard to do when you have a seatbelt on.

"Hey! You got roses!" David yelled from the front seat of his car.

"Fake ones!" Morgan yelled back.

"They're chocolate roses! And I'm saving up for something more important than roses."

Morgan smirked. "Exactly my point."

"Hey, just think. After you get tired of them taking up space, you can just eat them! Multi-purpose roses!" David joked. Morgan punched him in his arm that wasn't wrapped in a cast.

"I probably deserved that...."

Adam and I sighed a sigh of relief at the same time as David pulled into his driveway.

"If I had to listen to that for another five seconds I would've lost it," Adam whispered to me when we got out of the car. I laughed.

"Ditto."

"Andrew, I'm home!" David called up the stairs as we walked into his house. Two seconds later a kid with short spikey-ish brown hair and glasses walked down the stairs.

"Ew, Morgan's here..." He muttered, which made David throw a shoe at him.

"Hey! The last time she was here I walked in on you two making out! So if you need me, I'll be upstairs."

"But Carly and Adam are here," David pointed out. Andrew stopped walking up the stairs and turned around.

"Who's Carly?" I raised my hand awkwardly.

"Dude. She's hot!" Andrew whispered to David...like we can't hear him!

"And taken," Adam said, putting an arm around me. I could've sworn I saw Andrew's shoulders slump a little. Poor kid.

"...I'm going to go get a drink!" I called, running to David's kitchen. I grabbed a soda and sat down on one of the stools when Andrew and Morgan walked in.

Andrew walked over and sat down next to me. "You know...this could be our song." I looked up at him, and realized music was playing. I started to blush furiously.

"Um, Andrew..."

"Did I mention I'm fifteen?"

"....Andrew I'm sorry but I don't like you that way....I barely even know you. And I like older guys," I said, incredibly embarrassed. I looked over at Morgan, who had bread, peanut butter, and marshmallow fluff out on the counter.

"What are you doing with that?" I asked, making a face.

"Making a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich, duh." That did it.

"EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEW! MARSHMALLOWS ARE THE DEVIL!"

"No they're not!"

"Yes they are!" Andrew yelled at Morgan. She looked at him.

"Andrew shut up, you love marshmallows. You're just saying that 'cuz Carly doesn't like them."

*****

"What are we gonna do?" Morgan whined. We were up in David's room. Morgan, David and Adam were sitting on the floor while I was spinning in David's computer chair.

David looked at me. "....Is there any reason why you're spinning around?"

"Because I'm bored, duh!"

"Let me rephrase that. Why are you in my chair and I'm on the floor?"

"Because I can be!" David is really dumb sometimes. I put my hand on his desk and stopped spinning, ignoring the dizziness. Something in the corner of his room caught my eye.

"...Are those paintball guns?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, and by the way Adam you left your gun here last time."

"Can we play?" Morgan asked excitedly.

".....You're saying you want to play paintball. On Valentine's Day."

"Yes David, that's what I'm saying," Morgan said slowly so David could understand.

"And what's Valentine's Day-ish about paintball?" David questioned.

"We can use pink and red paintballs!" Adam pointed out.

"I only have three guns!" David said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Andrew walking down the hallway to his room. I walked into the hall up to Andrew. "Andrew, I _reaaaaally _wanna play paintball, but we only have three guns," I pouted, giving my best puppy dog eyes. His eyes widened.

"You can use mine, let me go get it!"

I should probably feel bad about using Andrew to my advantage, but I don't. I jumped when David spoke from behind me. "How did you know he had a gun?"

I shrugged. " I didn't."

****

**Adam's POV**

I was watching Carly figure out exactly how to hold her gun. "Uh, have you ever played before?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

She stopped messing with her gun and looked at me. "No, why?"

I reached over and turned the gun around. "It's upside down." She stared at the gun.

"That makes a lot more sense."

I looked over and David was giving us a weird look. "So I'm guessing we're having teams? Considering some of us _don't even know how to hold the gun?_" I nodded. This was going to be interesting...

"Alright, Carly you're on Adam's team. Morgan is on my team." David called. "You have three minutes to hide." I had no idea where to go, David knew all of my hiding places! I shrugged and ran as far into the trees in his backyard as I could, crouching down behind a good sized bush. I heard rustling in the bushes from behind me, heard a scream, and I was pelted with red and pink paint. From about six feet away. I ran a hand through my hair, trying not to freak. I took a deep breath.

"Carly? YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO SHOOT THE PEOPLE ON YOUR TEAM! Especially from six feet away, you have to be like, twenty feet away! That shit hurts when you're that close!" I said as quietly as I could so I didn't give us away.

"Adam I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you! God I suck at this game, we haven't even started yet and I suck!" Carly said loudly. I tried to suppress a groan.

"Thanks for giving us away!" I whispered loudly. I stuck my head up and looked around cautiously, but David and Morgan weren't coming after us yet. Huh. I turned around to face Carly again, and the end of a paintball gun was pointing at my face.

"Your three seconds are up," David grinned. I looked over and Morgan was pointing her gun at Carly.

"You know you can't shoot us this close, right?" I asked. David nodded.

"Then why should we run if we know you're just going to shoot us?" Carly asked.

David thought for a moment. "Because that's how the game works. Would you rather us shoot you guys from here?"

"NO!" I grabbed Carly's wrist and dragged her out of the trees, running as fast as I could. David's grass was being colored pink, red and occasionally white as the paintballs missed their targets and hit the ground.

"You okay?" I asked Carly after we found a hiding place. I looked at her clothes and they were sporting the Valentine's Day colors.

"Just peachy."

**Carly's POV**

I don't think anyone is winning this game. We were all covered in paint. I fired a few shots at Morgan and David, but only one or two actually hit them. Adam fired and hit David with every shot.

"Showoff," I muttered. He shrugged. I raised an eyebrow as Morgan nput her gun down and jumped into David's pool, David doing the same right after her. Adam and I put our guns down and walked over.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked, looking at them like they were mad people.

"Washing off the paint."

"It's like, fifty degrees out!"

"At least it's not twenty," David pointed out. "And if you want to come in my house you better jump in."

I shook my head and just stood there. "I'm not coming in there."

Adam laughed. "You don't have a choice."

"Wha-" I tried to talk but before I knew it, Adam grabbed my hand and jumped in the pool, pulling me in. It felt like little needles were poking into my skin it was so cold.

"How does that feel, Florida Girl?" Morgan grinned.

"I h-h-hate you a-all."

*****

**Carly's POV (The next morning)**

We all jumped and woke up when Adam screamed. "Oh my God, we're gonna be late for school! I'll see you guys later, I have to go home and get ready!" He said in a rush, and ran out the door. I looked up at the TV and the menu for Up was on. I stretched and laid back down on David's living room floor. "When should we tell him there's no school today?"

David smiled. "He can figure that out on his own."

My stomach growled. "I'm hungry!"

"Let's make pancakes!" Morgan squealed. We walked into the kitchen and took out flour, eggs, sugar, milk and baking soda. David grabbed a bowl and started mixing the dry ingredients together.

"You suck at measuring," Morgan pointed out.

"You suck at life!"

Morgan gasped and threw a handful of flour at David. He picked up a handful of sugar and threw it at her. I took two handfuls of flour and threw it at both of them. "You two are so childish!"

They both stared at me, then looked at each other and took an egg out of the carton. I backed up, not liking where this was going. I yelped when an egg exploded on my head, the yolk sliding down my hair.

"Oh it's on now."

*****

We were a mess; the food fight was probably one of the best I've ever had, I'll admit. Morgan, David, and I were covered head to toe with flour, eggs, you name it. The kitchen was a mess just like us.

"We accomplished nothing," I pointed out, sliding down onto the floor.

"Technically we accomplished a lot, it just doesn't involve making food," David corrected, doing the same.

We were all just sitting there, staring at everything when Adam burst through the front door.

"There's no school today!"

**Chapter Preview: **"Morgan, our kid is black."


	8. HSU

A/n: Hey guys! I just got back last night from a three day field trip with school, and it was amazing! I wish we could've stayed longer, but since we couldn't and I'm back now, I decided to write a chapter! Yayyy! Oh and by the way, the next three chapters are going to be filled with lots of drama, so be prepared.

_"I'm Permanent," ~David Cook_

**Carly's POV**

_"Mr. Bunker's first period please go to room 913," _Morgan said, reading the sign on the classroom door.

"Isn't that the childcare preschool room thingy?" David asked.

"Looks like we're going to find out."

"Good morning children!" A bubbly lady that couldn't be much older than us chirped when the bell rang. I raised my hand.

"Why are we surrounded by a bunch of babies?" The girl chuckled.

"Well, Mr. Bunker is going to start the human sexuality unit with you all, and before he starts he wanted you to feel what it's like to be parents. Because all of you will eventually be one, though some may be a parent sooner than others," She said, glancing at Morgan and David. "So, get a partner that is the opposite gender of you, they will be your spouse for the duration of the period."

"I call being Carly's partner!" Chris said.

"Um, I'm pretty sure _I'm _Carly's partner," Adam said to him. Chris frowned and went to work with Haley. I blushed and Adam sat down next to me.

"Hey wifey," He waved. I laughed as the teacher walked by holding a baby.

"Alright, newlyweds! Here's your baby!" She said, handing the baby to me. Yeah, this isn't weird at all. We're taking care of our classmates' kids. I looked down at the baby, who's tiny pink fingers were playing with my hair. She had a patch of fuzzy brown hair and green eyes. She looked like me..

I snapped my head up and stopped spacing when I heard Morgan squeal. "David! He has our eyes!"

David sighed and shook his head. "Morgan, our kid is black." That girl worries me sometimes. I looked at Adam and he gave me a _she's crazy _look.

"Let's name him David!"

"Morgan, we aren't naming it David."

"My child is not an it!"

David smacked his forehead. "Morgan. That's not even your child!"

Soon the room was full of crying toddlers and aggravated tenth graders. Adam and I were doing pretty good though. "Hi baby!" I said, bouncing her up and down, which wasn't a very good idea because she threw up on me. Milky white baby barf ran down the front of my shirt and I gagged.

".....EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEW!" I screamed and shoved the giggling baby into Adam's arms. "Yeah, I bet you think that's hilarious!" I yelled at her.

"The face you just made was hilarious, I wish I had a picture," Adam said, trying not to burst out laughing. I glared at him.

"Uh oh, looks like someone had an accident!" The teacher said. No, really?! She took the baby from Adam and put her in the playpen.

"Class, put your children back in the playpen!" She called, walking over to a closet. She pulled out a T-shirt and handed it to me. It said: _Tomorrow I will dress for success at school!_ Too bad tomorrow's Friday. I went to the bathroom to put the shirt on and came back, and the teacher was talking.

"Now, what do you think you learned from today?"

David raised his hand. "Use a condom?"

The teacher thought for a minute. "I guess, although the real reason was to abstain from sex when you're a teen because you won't be good parents, but that's not gonna happen in this generation. We all know you're not studying at the study groups. So yes, use a condom."

"Yeah Nikki!" Chris called. Nikki's the pregnant girl in our class, and she didn't look very happy. The whole class laughed.

"Anyway, when you leave please take a condom from the basket."

I frowned and raised my hand. "Aren't you promoting us to have sex by giving us these?"

She pursed her lips and then smiled. "No, I'm promoting _safe _sex!" Big difference.

The bell rang and David walked out of the classroom, grabbing a handful of the goodies in the basket. "Hey Morgan, wanna have a 'study group' this weekend?" I shivered. Nightmares!

"You got a glow in the dark one," Morgan said to me. "Can we trade?" I scrunched my nose.

"Just take it." David walked over to us and laughed. "You're not going to need that with Adam anyway, he's way too pure."

"And what she said about the whole, use condoms to be safe thing? Here's the thing; they're like trash bags. Sometimes they break," Morgan informed me.

"Yeah, YOU would know." Morgan glared at me and then looked at me weirdly.

"Isn't your birthday on Tuesday?"

"Where did that come from?!"

"Just answer the question!" She screamed.

"Yes, jeez! Are you happy?!"

She smiled. "Yes, yes I am."

*****

**Carly's POV**

"Can we go to the food court?" Morgan whined as we were walking out of FYE. We were walking around the mall doing nothing, since neither of us had any money. I was about to answer when something caught my eye; David was walking into a jewelry store.

"Morgan, look!" I pointed to David. "Come on!" I pulled her over to a bench and we crouched down to watch. David walked up to the counter, talked with a guy for a few minutes, and then the guy gave him a bag, and then David walked out. He took out his phone and started texting someone.

"What'd he buy?" Morgan whispered. "I bet you it's for me!"

She stuck her head up to get a better look at David saw us. He looked away and started walking towards Hot Topic. We walked casually into the store when he wasn't looking and ran into the dressing room. We stood up on the bench quick enough to see him buy a Gir shirt and eyeliner.

"Oh my gosh, he's buying stuff for me!" Morgan squealed quietly.

"Why is he randomly buying you stuff?" I asked, incredibly confused.

"Don't question his randomness!"

**David's POV**

I walked out of the jewelry store and texted Adam.

_The deed is done, that'll be 50 bucks_

_**Thanks man, and nice try.**_

**Chapter preview: **"We flew all the way up here to spend time with you and you want us to go back?"


	9. Not so Sweet 16

A/N: Hey guys! It's Spring Break right now and I have absolutely zero plans. So I figured I'd update a chapter (:

Enjoy!

_"I know he's living in Hell every single day," ~David Cook_

**Carly's POV (March 16)**

I yawned and sat up, blinking at the light shining in through my window. I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen and was attacked by my aunt.

"Happy birthday, honey!" She sang. "I'm so sorry but I have to work late tonight, so I'm taking you somewhere special before school. This is from Paul, he told me to tell you happy birthday just in case he doesn't see you today," She said, handing me a bag filled with tissue paper. Paul is my aunt's boyfriend, he's pretty cool. I pulled the green and yellow paper away to find a new pair of black skinny jeans, a belt with zombies on it, and a Mayday Parade shirt. All right. Paul's amazing.

"Guess I know what I'm wearing today," I said as I walked up the stairs back into my room. I picked up my blinking phone, alerting me that I had several messages. I decided to check my voicemail first.

"_Carly's like a melody in my head that I can't keep out, it's got me singin' like; na na na na every day. It's like my Ipod's stuck on replay. Happy birthday! Love you_." I smiled and checked my text messages.

David: _Happy birthday!_

Morgan: _Happy birthday girlie!_

The next message was from Adam.

_Happy Birthday, Love. Am I picking you up for school today?_

_**Nah, my aunt is taking me somewhere. I'll see you when I get there (: **_

I got dressed, grabbed my backpack and headed back downstairs.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Aunt Heather smiled. "You'll see." Somehow I expected that answer..

*****

I took the tiny plastic card out of my wallet once again and stared at it. I somehow felt more powerful than before, since I have my driver's license....even though I don't have a car.

"Thanks for the present, Aunt Heather," I said, half hugging her as best as I could while seat belted in a car.

"I thought you'd like it. It may come in handy sometime in the near future," she winked at me. We turned the corner onto our street, and there was a car in our driveway that I'd never seen before.

"Did Paul get a new car?"

"Something like that..."

We turned into the driveway next to the mystery car and I gasped; there was a big red bow on the hood of the car, and Paul was standing next to it smiling. I got out of the car and walked over to Paul.

"Is...Is this for me?" I asked. He nodded.

"Happy birthday, hon." I almost fainted. The car was a black 2010 Volvo s80. Paul got me a V_olvo. _Did I mention I'm like a niece to him? I launched myself into Paul's arms and hugged him.

"Thank you so much! I love it!" I squealed.

He laughed and patted my back. "I'm glad you love it. Now get to school and show everyone how amazing I am."

*****

**Morgan's POV**

I rested my elbow on my desk, put my head in my hand, and stared out the window. Mr. Bunker was going on and on about I don't even know what, since I'm too bored to listen. I watched in astonishment as a shiny new black car pulled into a parking spot in the student parking lot. No one had a car like that, only like, famous people!

"David!" I whispered, kicking him in the shin. He glared at me and looked over.

"What?!"

"I think there's a celebrity here! Maybe it's Johnny Depp!" I whispered excitedly. He looked unsure of that, but he started looking out the window anyway.

"Mr. Cook, Ms. Hills, I am over here," Mr. Bunker said angrily. We gave him our best sarcastic "I'm sorry" face and turned to face him, although we still had no idea what he was saying. Minutes later, Carly, dressed head to toe in new clothes, handed the teacher a late slip and sat down.

"Did you see Johnny Depp when you came in?!" I practically screamed at her.

"No...Johnny Depp's here?" She asked, confused.

"Well we saw a black Volvo in the parking lot...."

She laughed. "That's _my _car."

"Aww! I wanted it to be Johnny!" I pouted.

"I'm sorry I'm not Johnny Depp, are you happy now?" She said to me. The realization of what she said just sank in.

"YOU GOT A CAR LIKE THAT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?!"

Mr. Bunker cleared his throat loudly at the front of the classroom. "May I continue?"

"..Yes, yes you can."

*****

**Carly's POV**

"Happy birthday!" Morgan and David sang as we were walking to chorus. David walked up and handed me the biggest teddy bear I've ever seen and it was holding something. I took the little tissue paper-wrapped present from its gigantic hands and unwrapped it, finding a band T-shirt and purple eyeliner. I couldn't stop laughing for about two minutes.

"I thought that was for me!" Morgan whined.

David laughed too. "Maybe you shouldn't spy on me then."

Morgan rolled her eyes and handed me the second biggest teddy bear I've seen, and it was holding balloons. "All right, it's going to be hard enough to carry _one _of these, but two?! Why did you get the biggest ones you could find?!"

They smiled. "To show how much we love you. Actually it's to make sure everyone in the school knows it's your birthday."

"Gee, thanks."

We walked into the classroom and sat down, and David screamed, "Mrs. Kimsey! It's Carly's birthday!"

I turned bright red and screamed back, "NO IT'S NOT!"

Morgan made a face at me and raised an eyebrow. "Really Carly? You're carrying two ginormous teddy bears with balloons that say 'Happy Birthday' on them. Who are you kidding?"

"Shut up!"

Once the bell rang and everyone was in their seats, the teacher started playing 'Happy Birthday' on the piano and motioned for me to stand up. I stood shakily to my feet while every person in the room sang happy birthday to me in a perfect five-part harmony. In case you've never had sixty-something people sing to you on your birthday, it's pretty nerve-wracking.

"Dude, I actually think your scalp turned red," David pointed out as I sat back down. "See?" He traced his finger down the part in my hair and I smacked him.

"Shut up!"

"He's right you know," Morgan said. "Your ears are even red!"

I ignored them as the teacher started talking. "Okay class, we will be continuing the movie today, so you can sit wherever you want today."

Adam got up and walked over to where the three of us were sitting and sat down next to me.

"Hey, Sweets. Happy birthday," He said, kissing me on the cheek.

"You're not going to give me a giant teddy bear, are you?" I joked, half serious.

He grinned. "Nah, I figured I'd get you something else." He handed me a little rectangular box. A box from the jewelry store. Poor Morgan.

I untied the ribbon and opened the box and covered my mouth with both hands; inside the box was a silver necklace with a C made out of tiny diamonds, and a heart-shaped diamond charm hung off of it.

"Holy shit, Adam," I whispered. "This must have cost like, a fortune!"

"Didn't your mommy ever tell you it's rude to talk about other peoples' money?"

No, they were always too busy talking about all of our money to ask about anyone else's.

"I love it! I said and kissed him on the lips for about two seconds, because then our teacher started screaming at us.

"No kissing! You know what happens when you kiss a boy? You get pregnant!"

I stared at her. "Um, I'm pretty sure I'm _not _going to get pregnant by kissing Adam."

"Yes you will!"

"Allrighty then...."

*****

"Morgan, come on. That waiter was totally gay," I argued as I unlocked my front door once we got back from dinner. I walked into my living room and froze.

"Surprise! Happy birthday!" Abby, Sarah and Rachel squealed. All three of them were in identical outfits; A Hollister T-shirt with jean shorts that made strippers look like Nuns, and flip flops. Every single one of their bleached blonde hairs were perfectly straightened. They all ran over to me at once and hugged me. Could this get any worse?

"H-hey guys," I said nervously.

"Everyone misses you so much! We wish you could come back, Lacy isn't anywhere near as great of a captain as you were. The whole squad agrees with us! We miss you being there, too. Our little group hasn't been the same without you."

"Squad?" I heard Morgan say. She's definitely pissed.

"Carly who are these people?" Adam asked suspiciously.

The trio looked away from me and over at Adam, Morgan and David, who were returning their stare right back at them.

"Who are _they?"_ Abby asked, a disgusted look on her face. I looked around, starting to panic.

"_We're _her friends," Morgan spat.

That made them all laugh. "Really? We'll we've been her best friends ever since cheer school when we were five," Rachel spat back.

Morgan turned and stared at me, a look of hatred on her face. "_Cheer school?! _You were just like them?!"

"Uh, yeah. And Carly, did that car crash mess up your brain, because you said you'd rather die than hang out with the cutters. You made fun of those type of people, and now your one of _them?_ What's up?"

"I DON'T FUCKING BELIEVE YOU!" Morgan screamed at me, angry tears spilling down her cheeks. She stomped to the door and ran out, slamming the door on her way.

David sighed and shook his head, then walked outside after Morgan.

It was only me, my minions, and Adam left, and he was staring at me with a pained expression. I took a half step towards Adam. "Adam, please-"

"Save it." He walked out the door after the others. I turned to face my unwanted visitors, who were staring at me.

"Well, I'm glad that's over-"

"Get. Out." I said through gritted teeth.

Sarah's jaw dropped, and she cocked her head to the side. "We flew all the way up here to spend time with you and you want us to go back?"

"GET OUT! ALL OF YOU JUST GET OUT!"

*****

**Morgan's POV**

Angry tears streaming down my face, I plopped down in the passenger's seat of David's car. "C-could you take m-me to your house? I don't w-want to go home right n-n-now," I stuttered.

He sighed and looked at me with a sad look on his face. "Sure, Hon. I just wish you didn't have to see that..."

I snapped my head up and looked him straight in the eye. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

"If I told you it would've made it worse! I know what the preps do to you."

I sighed and shook my head. "Do you want to know the real reason why I cut? It's because of my jackass step dad and alcoholic mom. Ever since _he _came, she was a totally different person. She told me that her and my dad would always be together."

David looked at me, confused. "Step dad?"

I nodded. "My real dad was great, we were best friends. He loved my mom so much. But the second he died she got a new husband and started drinking, and I hate them both now. I mean yeah, the preps make my life Hell, but they're not the main reason."

"I'm so sorry Morgan," David said as he pulled into his driveway.

"Whatever," I said, walking into his house and up the stairs. "I'll be in the bathroom." I tossed my bag onto the counter, slid down onto the floor and sobbed. All of this was just too much. Every day I get tormented at home, then I go to school and get tormented by my classmates. Now I get insulted by total strangers and find out that one of my best friends has a very interesting past, and my boyfriend knew about it. I sighed and stood up, searching in my bag for my escape. Satisfied, I pulled out my razor and slid it across my wrist as hard as I could. I felt a sting that I didn't normally feel. I gasped and looked down at the incredibly dangerously deep cuts, blood pouring out of them fast. I was beginning to feel dizzy.

"David!" I screamed frantically. "David!"

I grabbed the handle and flung open the door, but I was too dizzy. I fell to the ground with a thud.

**Carly's POV**

I got up from the couch and checked the time. Midnight. I'd been sitting on the couch, crying, for four hours. But I deserved it. I walked over to the three wrapped boxes left behind by my unexpected surprises and opened them; a pair of white UGG boots, a new jacket, and a Hollister shirt. I hiccupped and threw them off to the side when my phone rang. It was David.

"H-hello?"

"I hope you're happy," He sobbed. "Thanks to you, my girlfriend might die."

**To be Continued....**

**Chapter Preview: **"David, I'm so sorry. I didn't plan for any of this to happen."


	10. Making Up

Yes I know it's been a while since I updated. I'm sorry! Yes I also know that this chapter sucks, at least I think it does. But apparently I don't matter because some people actually like this story.

Anyway, TY Morgan for the help!

"_And so I ask, oh God is there some way for me to take his place?" ~ David Cook_

**Carly's POV (That same night)**

"David, it's me. Will you please call me and tell me what's going on?" I said and hung up the phone as I left a voicemail for the millionth time. For all I know my best friend could be dead, and it's completely my fault. I sighed and sank into the couch.

"So, apparently when you move somewhere and make new friends, you need to tell them your life story or else somebody else will. Then your friend will commit suicide," I said to nobody. Aunt Heather wasn't even home, she was probably at Paul's. I jumped and squeaked when someone started banging on the front door. I jumped back in surprise when I saw David when I opened the door.

"Uh, hi," I said awkwardly. "Um, how's Morgan?"

His face was filled with different emotions when he answered. Pain, anger, sadness, hate. "She's gonna live. But that's all I know. Her parents aren't letting me see her anymore, because of you."

I shook off the verbal smack in the face and continued on, cautiously. "David, I'm so sorry. I didn't know any of this was going to happen."

"Nobody plans to screw up," He retorted. Ouch. "Now are you gonna let me in or what?"

I looked at him weirdly. "Why would you want to come in?"

"Because you have a lot of explaining to do," He said, shoving past me into the living room. "Jesus, can you turn a freaking light on in this place?"

I sighed and shook my head, flipping the light switch on as I walked into the living room. Oddly enough, this isn't helping right now.

David crossed his arms and stared at me. "Well?"

I rolled my eyes. David may be pissed at me but he doesn't have to be an ass. "Where do you want me to start?"  
"The beginning would be nice."

**David's POV**

Carly looked like she was going to cry any second. She took a deep breath and sighed. "Fine."

"Ever since the day I was born, I was spoiled rotten. My parents had a lot of money, and they always made sure I had the best of the best. When I was five, I started cheerleading. That's how I met the girls that were here earlier. When I wasn't cheering, I was being cheered to- I played soccer. My parents made sure that I always had good friends, and they really wanted me to remain friends with the girls that I met. I thought they were awesome, so when they started picking on people, I'd laugh and pick on people too. I didn't know it was bad, because nobody told me otherwise. I didn't know any other way of life. Up until the second semester of tenth grade that is. I thought I could start out fresh when I moved here, that somehow it would be a good thing," She said, then paused.

"Wow, so basically you were a snotty rich girl with rude parents," I summed up. Anger shot through her face and she stared at me.

"Just because your girlfriend almost killed herself doesn't mean you can be an ass to me and insult my family! My parents were great. They never really got anything for them, they always made sure I was happy before they were happy. And the money they didn't spend on me they gave to charity," She spat. Ouch...

"Look, I'm not going to beg you to forgive me, but you need to understand that I've changed, and that I didn't move here to ruin your lives. I never expected to see them again."

I sighed. "Look Carly, I'm sure you have changed, and I will forgive you. But not anytime soon, it's going to take a while to gain my trust back. Because all of this happened, I'm not allowed to see my girlfriend anymore that I've been with for three years."

"Well, we're going to fix that, David," She said. "Let's go, you're driving."

**Carly's POV**

I walked into the waiting room and looked around. It would probably be easier to find Morgan's parents if I'd seen them before. Just then a man and woman that looked like they had no idea what was going on or where they were jumped up and stared at David.

"What are _you _doing here? We just told you that you can't see out daughter anymore," The woman slurred. I'm going to guess it's Morgan's mom.

"At least I care about her, which is more than you two can say," David mumbled. Before they could retort back I decided to start talking.

"Alright Mr. and Mrs. Hills, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter...but it wasn't David's fault. It was...mine. Sort of. Some girls that I once knew came and said some things and...well now we're here," I explained.

The man turned his attention to me. "Who're you?"

I sighed. "It doesn't matter. What does matter is that this isn't David's fault."

They thought for a moment, and then Morgan's mom spoke. "He could've stopped her."

"She locked herself in the bathroom!" David defended. "I didn't even know she did it until I found her passed out!"

She sighed and looked at David. "Alright, it's not your fault. You couldn't have done anything. And...I guess you can still see our daughter."

David's face brightened. "Could I see her now then?"

"Nobody is allowed to see her now," Morgan's parents explained.

David's shoulders slumped. "Alright well them I'm out of here, come on Carly."

"Uh, David...this isn't my house," I pointed out when he pulled up to a house that I'd never seen before.

He looked over at me. "Carly I may be stupid but I'm not _that_ stupid!"

He got out of his car and started walking up the path to the front door, motioning for me to follow him. I reluctantly unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car. I wrinkled my nose as I walked up the path in the cold night air, cursing myself for wearing my pajama shorts and a t-shirt. In my defense, I didn't exactly expect to go anywhere but up to my bedroom. David rang the bell several times and started walking away.

"W...what are you doing?" I asked him, completely confused.

He shrugged and looked back. "Hey, you helped me. Now I'm helping you."

He got in his car and drove away. Just perfect! I sighed and shook my head, and then jumped when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and to the front door. A light turned on on the other side of the door, and then an exhausted-looking Adam opened the door.

He ran his hands through his hair and stared at me. "Um...hi. You do know it's two in the morning. Right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes Adam, I know what time it is. And don't blame me for being here, David took dropped me off here and drove off."

"Oh, well why did he want you to come see me?"

I sighed. "How do I know what goes on in David's head? Actually I wanted to talk to you, about earlier."

He didn't seem to remember at first, and then realization struck. "Oh-"

"Adam?" Somebody called from inside the house. A few seconds later a man looking to be in his late forties walked up behind Adam.

"What's going on here? Who's this?" He asked, eyeing me standing on his front porch. Just then the wind blew and I wrapped my arms around myself.

"Dad, this is Carly...my girlfriend," Adam said nervously. His dad's jaw dropped and he stared at Adam.

"This is the girl you always talk about? Why is she standing outside freezing at two in the morning? Get her inside!" He said, slapping Adam on the back of the head. I blushed furiously and walked inside.

"So, not to sound rude, but why are you here so late at night, honey? Is something wrong?" Adam's dad asked. Put on the spot much?

I looked down at the floor. "Sort of...Morgan kind of freaked out today because some old friends of mine thought it would be nice to surprise me on my birthday by coming up from Florida. And sorry for the language, but they're total bitches and they said some things about me, how I used to act. Now everyone kind of hates me, and Morgan cut herself and it hit a vein so she almost died. So I sort of made up with David, and I guess I need to make up with Adam now?" I said in a rush.

Adam's dad let all the information sink in, and then he looked over at Adam. "Adam, don't judge people by their pasts. How would you like it if people judged you from your past?"

"I wouldn't..." He muttered.

His dad smiled. "Exactly. So you two need to kiss and make up...figuratively speaking."

I blushed and Adam walked over and wrapped his arms around me. "Dr. Phil over there has a point. I'm really sorry."

I smiled and hugged him back. "I'm sorry too."

"Good," Adam's dad said. "Now we can worry about the rest of this in the morning. It should be illegal to be awake at this ungodly hour!"

**Chapter Preview: "Morgan, we really need to talk."**


	11. I'm Sorry

A/n: So...summer is pretty amazing so far. Haha actually that's a lie. But since I'm not at school slaving away doing projects, I get to update more! Yay?

_"And when they say it's all touch and go," ~David Cook_

**Carly's POV**

"Are you ready?" Adam asked as we walked through the hospital doors. People kept giving me weird looks; I was still in my pajamas and I finger-combed my hair since we came here straight from Adam's house. I took a deep breath and nodded as we approached the front desk.

"Hi, um, what room is Morgan Hills in?" Adam asked politely to the Nurse who was playing Solitaire on her computer. She glanced up angrily, as if his question just ruined her whole day.

"Family only," She muttered, rolled her eyes, and went back to her game.

"We are family!" I quickly said. "We're her cousins!"

The nurse looked up at me, sighed angrily and began to furiously type into her computer. "She's in room 315. Will that be _all _now?" She said.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks I guess..." I muttered. Something on her desk caught my eye; there was a piece of paper that said: "_Take this candy bar if our receptionist did not help you with a smile on their face!_" And it had a candy bar taped to it. I quickly snatched the candy bar and started walking towards the elevators with Adam.

"I wonder how many candy bars she loses a day..."

"If she hates helping people so much, she shouldn't be working here," Adam said as we walked into the elevator. He pushed the number 3 button and I started unwrapping the candy bar.

"You're actually going to eat her Hate Candy?" Adam asked, looking at me like I was insane.

I thought for a moment and then nodded. "You're right, I'll give it to Morgan. Maybe it'll make her feel better."

"Carly!"

"I was kidding Adam, jeez!" I muttered and continued to open the candy bar. The elevator doors opened and we stepped out into the hallway.

"Adam," I said sweetly. "How do you know Morgan is on this floor?"

He rolled his eyes. "_Wellll, _shes in room _3_15. So she's on the _third _floor."

I smacked my hand over my face. "Adam. There isn't only 100 rooms on each floor! That's just retarded!"

I shook my head and started walking, trying to find a map thingy. As we were walking, we found room 315...mostly because we heard David talking.

"Oh! What now! Suck it!" Adam screamed happily and started dancing around. I rolled my eyes and dragged him over to her room and knocked on the door. We got a "Come in!" from David, so we walked into the room, where David was eating a chocolate bar.

"Hate candy? Really?" Adam said to David.

David's eyes widened and he stared at Adam. "Hey! Candy is candy. But yes, it's Hate Candy from that one chick."

Morgan sort of laughed, and then she saw me. She had IVs in her arm and bandages all over her wrist. I bit my bottom lip, knowing that it was partly my fault that she was sitting in that hospital bed.

"Morgan, we really need to talk. Are you okay with that?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "Even if I say no, it's not like I can walk away so you'll just talk to me anyway." Ouch. I chewed on my lip again and looked over at David and Adam.

"Um, yeah. You two need to go," I pointed out. They both looked over at me and raised their eyebrows.

"And why do we have to do that?" They said in unison.

"Because I have to talk to Morgan!" I snapped. They frowned at me and walked out into the hallway.

I closed the door and cleared my throat. "Listen, what you saw yesterday...that's not me. Well, it was me, but it's not me anymore. What they said was true though. I was a _total _bitch, and I'm really sorry about everyting that happened. I feel terrible about what happened to you, and I wish I could change it. I really am your friend...I thought that maybe moving here would be a good thing, so I could start over. But obviously that didn't go so well."

Morgan didn't say anything, she just kept staring at me.

"You don't have to forgive me, or even be my friend anymore. I just wanted to let you know I'm really, _really _sorry," I said. I sighed and walked towards the door, Morgan didn't want to hear any of it.

"Look," Morgan started. I stopped walking and turned around. "I forgive you...but that doesn't mean I'm going to start skipping around in the flower patch, acting like this never happened. It's gonna take some time. But thanks for apologizing," She explained, not really looking at me.

"Okay," I said. "Um, I have to go...feel better."

_(The next day)_

"Nice of you to join us today, Ms. Pruitt. As well as you and Mr. Cook," Mr. Bunker said to Adam at the end of the period. He doesn't make any sense, if he was going to say that why didn't he say it at the beginning of class?

"Is there any reason why you two were not here? And where's your other friend, Ms. Hills?"

Okay I'm getting really sick of this guy. "Sorry sir, but I don't think it's any of your business why we weren't here, or where Morgan is," I said, incredibly annoyed.

"She probably killed herself, she got tired of living," Sarah Brooks sneered to her other friends, which earned her a few quiet giggles. I sighed angrily; she only said that because she sat right behind me and knew that would piss me off. The bell rang and everyone filed out of the classroom as quick as they could, eager to go and talk with their friends in the hallway. I walked out and waited until Sarah came out of the classroom.

"Hey," I said angrily. "Don't talk about Morgan like that."

She smirked. "Oh look guys! It's one of her minions! She's probably pissed off because I talked bad about her queen. It's really pathetic how they travel in packs these days, I mean-"

I don't really know what happened next, I just got really tired of her talking. But the next thing I knew Sarah screamed and fell back into one of her friend's arms and she had her hand over her nose...and my hand was balled into a fist. As quick as it happened, the Resource Officer ran over and dragged the both of us to the Dean.

"Carly? Why are you calling me from school, is everything okay?" Aunt Heather asked once she picked up her work phone.

"Hi Aunt Heather...I broke someone's nose and I'm suspended for two days..."

**Chapter Preview: "Oh my God! Are you okay?"**


	12. Trees are deadly?

A/n: Uhh, I don't really have much to say lol. So...here ya go!

* * *

"_I wish I could make it go away, but still you say," ~David Cook__  
_

**Carly's POV (One week later)**

"So what would you guys do if I told you I was a zombie?" I asked out of nowhere, picking at my lunch that sat on the table in front of me. I looked up and saw three wide-eyed faces staring back at me.

"...Carly, do you have something you would like to tell us?" David asked with a worried look on his face.

I shrugged. "Not really, I was just wondering what you would do."

"Well I have my Zombie Survival Guide in my locker," David bragged to us. I smacked my hand over my face.

"David, David, David," I said, shaking my head. "A stupid book cannot inform you on what to do if the zombie Apocalypse happens, it's sheer instinct. Survival of the fittest."

David frowned at me and looked down at his food in defeat. Once again, I win. I heard the clink of overpriced heals hitting the cafeteria floor and new instantly who it was.

"Well, Sarah's back!" I said without looking behind me.

Once again, they all stared at me. "How did you know it was her? You didn't even turn around."

I looked at them like they were retarded. "Uh, her heals. Duh!"

Call me crazy, but I can tell the sound of one pair of high heels from all the other ones. It's like when my parents were alive; I could tell when my mom was home by the noise her keys made...it was different from everyone else's. Alright so maybe I am crazy. But I'm right, so it works!

Sarah and her little clan walked past our table, then they looked back and walked over. This was Sarah's first day back since the little incident on Friday. I couldn't help but smile when I noticed that Sarah's nose was a very gross purple-ish green color and it was very swollen.

"Oh look guys! She's not dead!" Sarah exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. Morgan glared at her and I smirked.

"Hey, welcome back Sarah! Oh my _gosh_...what happened to your nose? It's _huge_, just like your ass!" I said back without hesitation. Her jaw dropped and she put her hand over her nose. Yeah, suck it.

**David's POV**

"Hey guys! Carly's up in her room, just come on in!" Aunt Heather said cheerily when she opened the door.

"Thanks Aunt Heather!" Adam, Morgan and I said in unison as we walked in. When we started walking up the stairs, we heard music coming from Carly's room. I put my finger up to my lips and motioned for Morgan and Adam to be quiet and I pulled out my phone. Her door was open, so when we got to the top of the staircase we saw Carly dancing around her room and watching Glee. The Glee cast looked like a bunch of Lady Gagas walking around the stage singing Bad Romance, and Carly was singing along.

"Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah! Roma, Roma-ma! GaGa, ooh la la! Want your bad romance," Carly sang into her hairbrush.

I had long since hit the video record button on my cell phone. The song was almost over, but we just couldn't hold back our laughter. The three of us burst into giggles and laughs, and Carly spun around with a look of absolute horror on her face; Her eyes looked like they were going to bug out of her head and her face flushed a dark red. The best part? I didn't press the stop button yet.

"DAVID YOU BETTER NOT BE RECORDING THIS!" She screamed at me.

"Why not? I'm sure the people on Youtube would love to see this!" I laughed. She obviously didn't think it was so funny, because she started chasing me through the hallway. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could without killing myself, and when I looked behind me Carly wasn't chasing me. She was at the top of the staircase, in the process of throwing her hairbrush at me.

"Damn, you have good aim!" I said after the brush hit me in the head and fell to the floor. I'll probably have a nice big bruise tomorrow, thanks to Karma. Carly ran down the stairs and had me in a headlock before I could even turn around to look at her.

"Did you put that video on Youtube?" She asked angrily. Not yet, but I will later!

"No! I deleted it!" I lied. Carly raised her eyebrows at me.

"David, I'm not an idiot. Give me your phone," She said, snatching my phone out of my hand. She went through my videos, and found the one that she was looking for. With a satisfied look on her face, she deleted the video and handed me my phone. Too bad I sent the video to Andrew.

"Okay now that that's over, I want coffee," Carly said, starting to space off. Where did that come from?

**Carly's POV**

"You know a strawberries and cream Frappucinno isn't really coffee," David said to me as we were walking back to my house. "And why did we walk to Starbucks?"

"Because I live a block away from it?" I said like a question. I didn't think I needed to drive my car to Starbucks when I could just walk, no matter how amazing my car is. I have to pay for the gas so I'm using it only when necessary! I looked up the street and saw construction workers trimming branches off of a huge tree, the limbs crashing to the ground. That didn't look very smart.

Adam wrinkled his nose after taking a drink of his coffee. "I don't think they gave me the right thing..."

I grabbed his coffee and took a sip. "What, you don't like chocolate chip Frappucinnos?" I held his coffee out to him and he fake gagged, reluctantly taking the coffee back. I smirked as we continued walking down the street. We were getting a little too close for comfort to the construction workers when Morgan walked directly under the tree. When the workers were cutting a branch. Does the girl walk with her eyes closed? I groaned and started running towards Morgan, pushing her out of the way of the falling branch. I successfully saved Morgan from getting a serious injury or whatever, but I was now under the branch, which didn't feel so good. Crazy, right?

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" Adam yelled as he and David ran over. I rolled the branch off of my legs as the construction workers decided to come over. Doing the equivalent of a belly flop on concrete and a tree branch falling on top of you feels like, well...exactly that. I'm sure I could have just got up and walked away with the worst injury being a nasty bruise, but I decided to get something out of this. I pulled my leg up to my chest and my face twisted in pain.

"Owowow! Oh my God, Mom's gonna be so pissed. She can't afford a hospital bill right now!" I cried, fake tears spilling down my cheeks. My friends' faces looked worried as they stood around me.

"Are you okay, kid? You're gonna be fine, right?" A construction worker asked me, looking nervous. "I mean, you'll be fine enough that you don't have to tell your mother?"  
"I d-don't know, I think my leg's b-broken," I hiccupped. I tried standing up shakily, putting weight on my right leg and then stumbling forward, fortunate enough for Adam to grab me before I seriously fell and hurt myself.

"Look, kid, please don't tell your mom," The construction worker that spoke before begged.

I stood up normally and looked him in the eyes. "Okay. That'll be fifty bucks. Each."

The looks on the construction workers' faces were priceless, and I could've sworn I heard Morgan chuckling quietly.

"Look at this, Marty! She's scammin' us!"

I raised my eyebrows and pulled out my phone. "You know, my mom's on speed dial." Fear shot through the men's faces and they both took out their wallets, each of them handing me a fifty dollar bill.

They glared at me. "Are you happy now?"

I stared at my strawberries and cream Frappucinno that was now all over the ground. "I want five more dollars from each of you; me and my friend dropped our coffees."

They sighed angrily but didn't complain as they each whipped out five more dollars and handed it to me. I smiled, waved, and started walking back to Starbucks, my friends close behind.

Morgan walked in front of me and stopped. "Okay, you've broken a girl's nose for me _and _pushed me out of the tree branch's way. You have all of my trust back! But are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded and laughed. "Yes, I'm fine. I did a pretty convincing job though, right? I could have a future in acting even!"

"Sure Carly, keep telling yourself that."

* * *

**Chapter preview: "Oh my God! She's dead for sure, I know it! She killed her!"**


	13. Revenge

A/n: Hey guys! I know I haven't updated in forever...but I'm updating now! Yay? Anyhoo...school starts in exactly 3 weeks. I'm kind of excited since it's the first year of high school...but it's still school. Lol

I'm going to go see ADAM LAMBERT on September 17th! I am sooo excited!

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

_"Will you think that you're all alone," ~ David Cook_

* * *

**Carly's POV**

_Okay, what is going on? _I thought to myself. I was trying to find Morgan before class started, but everyone who passed me kept laughing at me as they walked by.

"Hey," Morgan said from behind me, tapping my shoulder. I whirled around, startled. Morgan just laughed, with David snickering behind her. He had a weird look on his face...triumph?

"Do you have any idea why I've become so popular?" I asked David, ignoring Morgan's greeting.

He shrugged. "I dunno, but I saw a video on Youtube this morning. It was pretty funny; this girl was dancing around in her room while singing into her hairbrush. It looked like you!"

My face instantly felt hot and my eyes widened. "You actually posted the video? How did you get it back? I deleted it off your phone!"

David grinned. "I sent it to Andrew before you deleted it."

This could _not _be happening. Everybody in the school probably saw that video! I stomped off angrily towards the one place I was most likely to find Andrew. I finally reached the band hallway where all the seniors liked to hang out, and sure enough, Andrew was here.

"So, you guys are in band? That's cool. I'm in the jazz band, it's probably the most advanced band there is," Andrew bragged to the guys he was hanging out with. They all looked like they'd rather be anywhere but here.

"No you're not. We're in that band, and we've never seen you there," The guy closest to Andrew said. I'm pretty sure they're in my chorus class...

"Andrew. I need to talk to you. Now," I hissed as I walked over to him.

"Oh, hey! This here's my girlfriend," he bragged, putting his arm around me and pulling me close to him.

"Dude. She's Adam's girlfriend," The same person from before said. "You better get this straight, kid. We beat freshmen pretending to be cool like you up, so stop talkin' smack."

Andrew's face turned pale as the group of guys walked away. He looked over nervously at me as I glared at him. "Uh, h-hey, Carly."

"Why did you upload that stupid video of me onto Youtube?"

Andrew looked away. "I'm sorry! David threatened me...please don't let this come between us!"

The bell rang just then, so I turned around and walked toward my first period, still thinking about how I could get back at David. When I walked into Mr. Bunker's classroom, I walked to my usual seat next to Morgan and David, where the two were arguing over something.

"Can't we go out for a change instead of having movie night at your house?" Morgan begged.

"There's nothing good out, and I'm broke anyway," David answered.

Morgan looked down at the floor. "Splice is out..."

David's face turned pale when Morgan mentioned the movie. "I...don't want to see that."

I smirked and decided to join in the conversation. "What, are you afraid?"

"No!" David said, a little too quickly. Adam walked into the room then, bending down to kiss the top of my head as he walked quickly to his seat, just as the bell rang. I blushed and looked over to the board where my teacher was writing something. It was my name and Adam's name, and it was under the detention list.

"You know, you're only punishing yourself by giving us detention. It's not like we have anything else to do," I pointed out. He wrinkled his nose as he looked over at me. He was never my favorite teacher, and I certainly was never his favorite student, but after the whole 'hair on fire' incident...he really didn't like me. Or my friends.

"You're right. Adam, Carly, go up to the Dean's office."

We both shrugged, got up, and walked out the door, my hand in Adam's as we walked down the deserted hallway. We turned the corner and entered the Front Office building. I'd walked this route so many times I could probably do it with my eyes closed. I waved hello to Mrs. Moore, the receptionist, before throwing open the door at the end of the hallway and walking into the Dean's office.

"Bert! Long time no see, how've you been?" I said cheerily as I plopped into one of the not- so- comfortable chairs sitting in front of Mr. Hall's shiny mahogany desk.

Mr. Hall smiled and returned my cheerful greeting. "Hello Carly. I haven't seen you since Tuesday! How long ago was that, three days?"

"Well, I'm trying to be good," I said, grinning. Mr. Hall was probably my favorite Staff member at this school. He was even better than Santa (Mr. Klaus). Deans are supposed to be mean and punish you or whatever if you come to their office, but Mr. Hall is really nice. Since my teachers send me to his office almost on a daily basis, it was pretty much my second classroom. Mr. Hall was a middle-aged man, probably in his late forties. He had perfectly combed dark hair, a scruffy beard (because he doesn't shave every day), and laugh lines under his eyes.

"So what did you do today?" Mr. Hall asked. I smirked and looked over at Adam.

"Well, Carly didn't exactly do anything. It was me. Mr. Bunker gave us detention because I kissed her head and then she said he's only punishing himself, so we ended up here."

"...That's it? You didn't catch anything on fire, you didn't make fun of your teachers, none of that?" Mr. Hall asked, looking disappointed. Apparently he likes to hear about my crazy reasons more than I thought. I frowned and shook my head.

"Oh well, then you guys can go back to class," he said. I feel like I've let him down...

"You know, I didn't get detentions or sent to the Dean until you came here," Adam said as we were walking back to class.

"That's funny, 'cause neither did I," I said back to him. I frowned when I saw Morgan walking towards us with a smile on her face.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" We asked her.

She shrugged. "Yeah, but I kept telling him I didn't want to be there so he sent me to the Dean. Which is where I wanted to go. Oh by the way, you're bringing the movie for movie night tonight, Carly." No problem.

**Morgan's POV**

_"Okay, so you know the plan?" _Carly texted me. The only light in the room was coming from the TV, and occasionally our cell phones. I looked up form my phone to the movie, where the orphan was about to drown in the frozen lake. I'd barely been paying attention to the movie, I was texting Carly. I replied to her message and waited for her to respond. I looked over at David, who was sitting next to me. Every time there was a loud noise or a creepy part of the movie he would jump. I shook my head and tried to keep from laughing. There was another loud creepy noise and David bent over and buried his face in my lap.

"I don't want to watch this anymore!" He said. He's such a baby. I rolled my eyes and rubbed his back, hoping he'd calm down. Instead, he jumped and rolled off the couch.

"AHH! Something just touched me!" He screamed.

"That was me you retard!" I yelled back. How much more stupid could he get?

"No David, it was the Orphan!" Carly teased. He stuck his tongue out at her and she smirked.

"Well, that was a good movie," Adam said. I looked back at the TV and saw the end credits shot across the screen.

"Hmm...I'm thirsty; sodas are in the garage, right?" Carly said as she got up.

"Yes...you're going out there alone?" David asked nervously.

Carly looked over at David. "David. The Orphan isn't going to kill me if I go and get a soda." I had to put my hand over my mouth so David wouldn't see me smile. If I blew it right now, there would never be another chance to do this. Carly rolled her eyes at David and walked out into the garage. About a minute later the power went out, there was a loud crash, and we heard a blood-curtling scream come from the garage. It was pitch black, not even a candle was lit. I felt my way to the kitchen since there were flashlights in the cupboard. I finally found one and I flicked the switch, the tiny beam of light just strong enough to make out David and Adam's bodies.

"What the heck just happened?" I screamed.

"What is going on down here?" Andrew called as he walked down the stairs, a huge flashlight in his hand.

"Oh my god! She's dead for sure, I know it! She killed her! The Orphan killed Carly!" David screamed.

"We have to go get Carly!" Adam yelled. The look of absolute horror on his face almost fooled me, but I reminded myself that this wasn't real. I threw him a flashlight and I started walking to the garage. David jumped out at me and grabbed onto my leg.

"You can't go out there!" He cried. I could feel his hands shaking. I shook my head and just dragged him along with me.

"We can't just leave Carly out there!" I swung open the door and I gasped; Carly was lying on the ground in a pool of blood, and a bloody knife lay next to her. My eyes filled with tears and my jaw dropped. _This isn't real, this isn't real, _I told myself.

"Carly!" Adam cried. He dropped onto his knees next to her and started sobbing.

"OH MY GOD! I knew it! She's dead! What are we going to do?" David yelled hysterically. I shook my head as the tears began to fall. David was freaking out too much to see Carly get up and stand behind him. She smiled and tapped his shoulder. "David!"

"What?"

"Isn't revenge a bitch?" She laughed. His eyes widened and he turned to look at her.

"What...you...THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" David yelled. Adam, Carly and I just laughed at him as I walked over to the fuse box and turned all the lights back on.

"Oh, Carly. I got it all on tape, too. I'm working on putting it on Youtube right as we speak," Andrew called from the doorway. David looked over at Andrew and his jaw dropped.

"You were in on this?" He asked furiously.

Andrew nodded. "Well, Carly gave me an offer I couldn't refuse.

"Which was?"

He grinned. "A kiss." Adam looked over at Carly and raised his eyebrows. She shrugged.

"Well, I threatened to beat him up, but he said he would like it. And I felt nothing when I kissed him anyway."

**Carly's POV**

It was late when I got home, so I quietly walked up the stairs and into my room. I was exhausted. I traded my sticky, fake-bloody clothes for my favorite pair of PJ's and collapsed into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

And that's when the nightmares started.

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**Chapter preview: "Sorry I wasn't in first period today, guys. I overslept... I haven't been sleeping well lately..."**


	14. I Love You

A/n: Hey guys! Update time! Woo? I really wanted to update sooner, but with my little procrastination problem and the whole High School stuff, it took a LOT longer for me to update. I'll try to update every weekend or so. Oh, and sorry I don't have a chapter preview for the next chapter, I have no idea what's going to happen XD

Enjoy!

Morgan: I SAT ON MY HOMEWORK!

Carly: GET OUT OF MY A/N!  
Morgan: I HAVE A PENCIL!  
Carly: *Runs away screaming* Fine! Post my chapter then!  
Morgan: OKAY =D

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_"When no one's there to hold your hand?" ~David Cook_

**Carly's POV**

_2:00 A.M._

I shot up out of bed, my heart pounding. I'd had another nightmare, for probably the millionth time that night. They were always the same one, the truck slamming into the side of our car, killing my mom and dad. Every time I went back to sleep I'd just shoot back up and try not to start screaming, yet again. This has happened ever since my parents died, but never this frequent. Out of the whole weekend I probably got about nine or ten hours of sleep. I sighed shakily and lay back down, begging for the nightmares to stop.

_3:00 A.M._

_Once again, _I shot up out of bed screaming. I held my breath and listened for any signs that I'd woken up my aunt. She didn't make a sound. I sighed angrily and put my head in my hands. I couldn't take it anymore! I _had _to get some sleep! I quietly walked out into the hallway and down the stairs, stopping when I reached the kitchen. I rummaged around in the pantry until I pulled out a half-empty bottle of liquor. Perfect. I twisted off the cap and chugged the bottle, the liquid burning my throat as I swallowed it. I threw the empty bottle into the trash can and retreated back to my room, already getting a buzz. Hopefully the nightmares would stop now. I sank back under my covers and closed my eyes, sleep coming quickly this time.

_4:00 A.M._

_I stopped at the red light and looked around; It was dark, and no one else was on the street. I looked down and I was wearing my soft blue sweater. Something didn't seem right... I looked up just as the light turned green, and out of nowhere a semi-truck slammed into me. I screamed hysterically as my car flew up in the air, rolling to a stop in the ditch. I crawled through the shattered windshield, wincing as the glass shards pierced through my skin. I looked over to the side of the road and my parents were standing there, except they were covered in blood. _

_"It's your fault that we're dead!" My mother shouted, tears of blood now streaming down her bruised cheeks._

_"No! I didn't know, it was an accident!" I cried._

_"If you didn't want that stupid sweater we'd still be alive!" My dad yelled at me. I collapsed onto the grass and pulled my knees up to my chest as their taunts got louder._

_"I didn't know, I swear, I-"_

I shot up out of bed, sobbing. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably. My stomach was twisted into one giant knot and the room was spinning. I just. Couldn't. Take it. I staggered into my bathroom, desperately searching for the little orange razor. My hand gripped around it finally, and just as it was about to slice through the skin on my wrist, I realized what I was doing.

"I can't...I promised Adam..." I said, trying to convince myself not to do it. Then it hit me; What if I cut where no one would see it? I looked down at my bare legs._ Nobody's going to see them, I wear jeans all the time_, I thought to myself. Satisfied, I slid the razor across my legs, over and over. When I was done I put the razor down, crawled back to my room, and collapsed onto my bed.

"Dude. Where were you this morning?" Morgan asked as I met her, Adam and David in the hallway during the class change.

"Sorry I wasn't in first period today guys. I overslept...I haven't been sleeping very well lately," I explained.

"Uh, you missed second and third period too," David pointed out. "It's time for lunch."

I thought about what he said and looked at the time on my phone. My head was still pretty fuzy. "Oh, yeah.. Well I'll see you guys in a few minutes then," I said as Adam and David walked into the lunch line and Morgan and I went to find a table.

"Are you okay?" Morgan asked, sitting down at an empty table. I did the same and ran a hand through my tangled hair.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just sleep deprived," I told her. She pursed her lips and looked away.

"Okay...We were really worried, Adam especially. You didn't answer your phone like all weekend."

"Adam was worried?" I asked.

She looked at me like I was retarded. At this point in time, I was. "Duh! He really cares about you, Carly. More than he shows."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he has a hard time showing people how he really feels ever since...Uh...just don't expect him to pour his heart out to you any time soon," She said, a hint of sadness in her voice. Okay...

**Adam's POV**

I shoved past another person in the crowded hallway, trying to get to my fourth period class. I looked to my right and saw Carly sitting against the wall, holding her head in her hands.

"Carly, what's wrong?" I asked as soon as I got over to her.

"Feel sick...gonna puke," She muttered. I helped her to her feet and she ran to the girl's bathroom. A few minutes later she came back out and buried her face in my shoulder.

"I want to go home," She muttered into my shirt. I put my arm around her and walked her to the parking lot, looking for her car. I finally spotted it. At the very back of the parking lot.

**Carly's POV**

"Will you be okay if I go and get my car?" Adam asked me, still worried. I nodded and he walked over to where I was laying on my couch. "Okay, I'll be right back," He said. He bent down, kissed my forehead, and left.

"Ugh," I groaned as I walked into the bathroom, feeling like my head was going to explode. I took two Advil from the medicine cabinet and grabbed my wallet. "I need coffee."

My double espresso caramel iced coffee could not have tasted any better. By the time I reached the door it was almost gone, but so was my headache. I frowned when somebody stepped in front of me when I tried to leave; It was Mr. Cole.

"Carly, good to see you," He said, smiling warmly. The way he said that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"Uh, hey Mr. Cole.." I said awkwardly.

"Oh, here, let me get that for you," He said, brushing my shoulder as he held open the door. I walked out the door, and naturally he followed me out. He put his arm around me shoulders and leaned his head close to my ear. "It was nice seeing you again," He whispered. Yeah...Nice seeing you too. Not.

"Where were you?" Adam asked angrily when I walked through my door.

"I walked to Starbucks, I'm sorry. I should've left a note," I explained to him.

"But you walked there? It's almost dark! Someone could've taken you and I wouldn't have any idea what happened to you," He said.

"I would've gotten home sooner, but I ran into Mr. Cole at Starbucks and-"

"What?" Adam almost shouted. "He better not have put his hands on you."

"Well...he put his arm around my shoulder and said it was nice seeing me, but that was it..." I said nervously.

"That creep! This is _exactly _why you should've waited for me to get back!" Adam yelled, which made me jump.

"Adam, calm down. Nothing happened, really," I said, trying to get him to relax.

"But something could've happened!" He said angrily. "That's what you're not understanding!"

I sighed angrily. "Adam. You're not my dad. In case you didn't know, he's dead. I can take care of myself."

Adam laughed without humor. "Well apparently not."

My jaw dropped and the tears that were building up now streamed down my cheeks. Immediately all of the anger left Adam's face. He went overboard, and he knew it. I spun around and started for the bathroom, but Adam grabbed my wrist as I walked past him.

"Carly, I-"

"Please just leave me alone," I choked out and yanked my hand out of his grasp.

**Adam's POV**

I sighed, mentally kicking myself once again. I totally lost control of my temper, and Carly was the one that suffered. I walked over to the bathroom and knocked softly.

"What."

My heart felt like it ripped slightly when she said that. That one little word was filled with so much anger, and if the door wasn't blocking her she would probably be shooting daggers at me with her eyes.

"Carly, can you please come out? I'm really sorry, I promise I won't yell anymore," I begged. This was the second time that she's been yelled at over something she didn't have any control over, and I felt terrible. Slowly, the handle on the door turned and Carly walked out, her eyes red and puffy. I took the two steps that separated us and held her in my arms tightly.

"I'm really sorry..."

**Carly's POV**

"I just got a call from my aunt, she'll be home late," I told Adam when I walked back into the room. The yelling and the tears were gone, and now we were watching TV in the dark, because we were both too lazy to turn a light on. I walked over to the couch and sat down, resting my head on Adam's shoulder.

"I'll stay with you until she comes home," He said, putting his head on top of mine and smiling. He then stiffened and I could feel the smile leave his face.

"Carly...what are those?" He asked, looking down at the cuts on my legs. Crap! I totally forgot about the cuts; It was like 10 P.M. so I changed into my PJ's, which were shorts and a T-shirt. "You promised me you wouldn't cut anymore."

I looked up at him and he had a pained expression, which made me feel terrible. "Adam, I'm so sorry, I just-"

"What?" He asked me, starting geting worked up again. "What could have happened that made you cut again? Nevermind...I, I have to go," He said, getting up and walking to the door.

"Adam, wait. Please just let me explain," I begged, grabbing onto his arm. He looked back at me with the same sad, pained look on his face.

"Fine, explain."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I've been having terrible nightmares about when my parents died, and I wasn't getting any sleep. So I drank...because I thought it would fuzz over my mind so I could get some sleep. But it just made it worse, and I was so upset that I cut. I'm so sorry that I did it again, they were just so horrible." By the time I finished explaining, I was crying again. I looked up at Adam through tear-filled eyes, and he was thinking it over.

"Do you want to know why I get so upset every time I see that you cut yourself?" He asked. I sniffed and nodded.

"Two years ago, my family was camping out at our cabin that we used to rent. I was upstairs taking a shower while my parents were asleep, but my two year-old sister snuck outside...and fell into the lake. Everybody was distraught, my mom being the worst out of all of us. She started cutting herself because she was so depressed, and she eventually just took her own life. I feel like, maybe if I were watching my sister more carefully, she and my mom would still be here. And now I find out that you're cutting again, I just really don't want to lose you. Especially since you could just talk to me whenever something's bothering you." Now we were both crying.

I didn't know what to say, it was just terrible that anyone would ever have to go through that, especially Adam. Instead of saying anything, I walked over to Adam and wrapped my arms around him, his arms tightening around me. We stood like that for several minutes until I decided to break the silence.

"Adam?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

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**No Chapter Preview this time guys, sorry!**


	15. Me and My Jealousy

A/n: This chapter is dedicated to Morgan. I've been a really sucky friend saying I'd update, and then never doing it. So, I FINALLY updated. Yay?

Hope you like it : )

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**Adam's POV**

_She loves me,_ I thought. _She told me she loves me._ And how did I react? I didn't say a word. Not a _single word._ God, I'm so stupid! Why didn't I answer her? I sighed, mentally kicking myself. Carly shifted and buried her face in my shoulder. I bent my head down and kissed her sleeping eyes softly, as if she would shatter any second. She fluttered her eyes open and looked up at me.

"Any nightmares?" I asked her. She smiled and shook her head.

"You kept them away."

**Carly's POV**

"Well then they're never coming back, because I'll always be here," Adam promised. He put his finger under my chin and tilted my head up, and before I knew what was happening his lips were on mine. Well, this was...different. Not that I'm complaining. We've kissed before, but never like this. Adam never really acts this way. But yeah, you could call this our unofficially official first kiss. And it was over far too soon, in my opinion at least.

"I love you," Adam murmured in my ear, which gave me tons of butterflies.

"I love you too," I answered, blushing light red. "Ugh, I don't want to go to school today." That was an understatement.

"That's funny," Adam yawned. "Because neither do I. We're going to be late anyway, so what's the point in going?"

"Skip day!" I said, reaching over to get my phone. I pressed the 2 button on my speed dial and waited for Morgan to pick up.

"...Hello?" Morgan answered sleepily.

"Hey, we're not going to school today. Want to meet up at the mall?"

"Sure!" Morgan said happily, but not because we're going to the mall. Because we're skipping school.

"Okay, can you call Dav-"

"DAVID!" Morgan screamed as I heard something be thrown. David screamed. _"WHAT?"_

_"_We're going to the mall, put some clothes on!" Morgan screamed at him.

"Wh..why...never mind," I shivered. "Just meet me at the mall in like, two hours, okay?" I said, not waiting for an answer before hanging up.

I shook my head and looked over at Adam; his hair was messy and in his face more than usual.

"...Well that sounded like an interesting conversation!" Adam said. I nodded and pretended to barf.

"Well, I need to go get ready," I said, grabbing a towel out of my closet. "I'll be back in a few."

"Okay. Oh, and Carly?" Adam said, smirking. "Nice hair."

I looked over in my mirror and saw the giant tangled rat's nest that I occasionally like to call hair.

"Yeah...well...you too!"

"Hey kids," Adam's dad said as we failed at trying to sneak into his house. "Why aren't we at school? And when you didn't come home last night I figured you'd be with Carly, but it's still nice to let me know where you are."

Adam started to say something but I interrupted him. "It's my fault, sir. I wasn't feeling good so Adam stayed to make sure I was ok-"

"That's exactly what he should have done. I'm not mad, don't worry about that. Just try and call next time," he said. I looked over at Adam and he had a very confused look on his face.

"Dad...why aren't you at work?" Adam asked, pointing out that his dad was still in his pajamas.

"The same reason why you're not at school."

**Adam's POV**

"Adam, can I talk to you for a minute?" Dad asked, just as I was about to walk out the door with Carly. I nodded and followed him into the kitchen, he had a weird look on his face.

"Um, Dad?"

"Look, Son, I know you really like Carly and everything, but... when was the last time just you and David hung out? Don't get too serious with Carly unless you know that she's... um, the one," he said, choosing his words cautiously.

I sighed. "Dad, David is always with Morgan. Morgan and Carly are best friends, David and I are best friends. It works out perfectly. David and I don't want to hang out just the two of us, that's only cool once in a while. And Carly _is _the one Dad, I love her."

My dad frowned. I could tell he didn't like talking about this, but he's the one that brought it up. "You might say that now, but what if you break up with her in two weeks? I know it's nice to have someone to talk to that understands what you're going through, losing your mother and your sister, but don't fall in love with someone for the wrong reasons."

I ran my hand through my hair and stared at him. "I don't plan on breaking up with her, ever. And just because we're going through the same thing doesn't mean that's why I love her, half the people on the planet are going through what I'm going through!"

My dad sighed and smiled. "Okay Adam, if she's the one, then I'm happy for you. She's a great girl, I just didn't want anyone getting hurt because they mistook love for something else." He looked around awkwardly when he finished talking.

"Now... go on, have fun at the mall."

**Carly's POV**

"What took you so long?" Morgan practically screamed when Adam and I finally decided to make an appearance. Her arms were crossed and she was giving us the stink eye.

"Sorry!" I stuttered. "We had to go to Adam's house so he could get ready, and-"

"Whaaaaaaat?" Morgan interrupted. "Adam would already be at his house...we need to talk!" She said and grabbed my arm. Adam gave a look of protest, but I shrugged and said, "It's okay. You and David can hang out, just the _two of you_." I hinted at the last part, and he seemed to get it. I'd heard what his dad said, and I heard what he said back to him. I smiled before leaving with Morgan, to show him I wasn't mad, in case he got the impression that I was.

"So...what's up?" Morgan asked me, enthusiasm in her voice. "Why would Adam have to go home to get ready? Why does he seem all Edward Cullen protective? Did he stay the night? ...Did you guys do it? Did-"

I smacked my hand over her mouth. "Morgan! Shut. _Up_. Do you want me to tell you or not?" She nodded her head quickly and licked my hand.

"You are so gross!" I cringed, frantically wiping my hand on my pants. "_Anyway, _yes. Adam spent the night. And we did not 'do it.' Just because that's what you and David did last night, doesn't mean we did."

Morgan stuck her tongue out in an immature fashion and said, "Well, what _did _happen? Why did he stay?"

I walked over to a table and sat down. We were in the food court now, and the smell of gyros from the Greek place was making me hungry. I ignored the pleas from my growling stomach and looked at Morgan. "Okay. Um...I've been having this nightmare pretty much every night. So the other night I got a buzz to try and help me sleep, but that made it ten times worse. So I cut, and then yesterday at school I felt really crappy and Adam drove me home. Then when we got to my house he saw my cuts and we fought and then I hugged and told him I loved him. Then it got really awkward and then we fell asleep, then this morning he told me he loved me and we kinda started making out," I said quickly. Sure, I paraphrased a bit, but oh well. Then I told her about the talk that Adam and his dad had.

"And he is NOT Edward Cullen protective! Don't compare my boyfriend to Twilight! I think he's just afraid to lose me, in any way. That's why he hates it when I cut, because it reminds him of his mom," I added.

"...Ohmygosh, that's reaaaaally sweet," Morgan said. "I...I'm actually a little jealous of you two." That last part was kind of a shock. What did she have to be jealous about? She had David, and David's crazy about her!

"What?" I said. "You have David, and-"

"Let me see your phone," Morgan interrupted. I reluctantly handed it over, and she pulled up a text message to Adam.

_"What's more important; me, or your life?"_ She texted. Not long after my phone beeped, alerting us that I had a message.

**"You are my life" **Adam texted back.

_"Am I pretty?"_

**"You're beautiful"**

_"Would you do literally anything for me?"_

**"I would take a bullet for you."**

By the time the last question was answered, my cheeks couldn't get any redder. It was getting a little too awkward for me since Morgan was reading my texts, so I deciced to see where this was going.

"Morgan, this isn't telling me why you're j-"

"Now watch this," she interrupted again, handing me my phone and taking out her own. She texted the exact same questions to David...and got different answers.

_"What's more important; me, or your life?"_

**"You"**

_"Am I pretty?"_

**"Incredibly pretty :)"**

_"Would you literally do anything for me?"_

**"Of course"**

Morgan shut her phone and looked over at me. "See, David's answers aren't wrong...they're just not enough. Adam, on the other hand, is incredibly sweet and charming. David's just...David." Crap.

**Adam's POV**

"That's weird, Morgan's asking me random questions like, 'Would you do anything for me,' and 'Am I pretty'?" David said ,sticking the CD that he was previously holding back on the shelf.

"What did you say?" I demanded. He probably screwed this up...

"I said she's incredibly pretty, and yes I'd do anything for her...why?" David asked, eyeing me carefully. I grabbed him by the shoulders and stared at him.

"David! That was a test! Carly did it to me, too! They _know_ we care about them, they just want to _hear_ it. And they don't want to hear that they're pretty, they want to be told that they're beautiful, and that they mean the world to you. But don't just tell that because it's what they want to hear, tell it to them because that's how you feel. Why would you answer her that way if she's so much more than that?"

David stared back at me, smacked his hand on his forehead, and said, "...I'm such an idiot."

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**Chapter Preview: "Once again, you've caused a problem between me and Morgan. She dumped me because she was jealous of **_**you**_."


	16. UPDATE

UPDATE: Hi! Haha I know it's been like, two years since I've updated, but I think I'm going to finish this story. I've recently gotten a few PMs about it, and I think I'm seriously going to try and update once a week. I'll probably start back at chapter one and just add more detail and revise a few things, but the basic plot so far will be the same. Sooooo yeah, (Hopefully) I'll have a new chapter up by Friday!


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